Meet the Board

Mortimer Sellers is Regents Professor of the University System of Maryland and Director of the University of Baltimore Center for International and Comparative Law. His books include "The Sacred Fire of Liberty" (Macmillan, 1998), "American Republicanism" (Macmillan, 1998) and other volumes about the constitutionalism, the Enlightenment, and the history of the United States. He is a tenth-generation descendant of Samuel Sellers, who built Sellers Hall.

mortimer.sellers@gmail.com

William J. McDevitt, Esq., is an attorney and an associate professor in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University. He is a founding member and the president of Friends of Sellers Hall. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Delaware County Historical Society. He has also served as president of the Upper Darby Historical Society, and he is currently its solicitor.

wjmcdevitt@aol.com

Ellen is a retired educator after 32 years of public school teaching. She has given numerous local, public history programs throughout Delaware County, taught teacher inservice accredited courses on Southeast Pennsylvania History and Geography and has received numerous grants for historical study, including the National Endowment for the Humanities Teacher Scholar Award for the study of Upper Darby Township Industrial History.

She is a past member of the board of the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, the Newlin Mill Foundation, and the Friends of Sellers Library. She is currently on the boards of the Upper Darby Historical Society, the Friends of Sellers Hall and the Mendenhall-Tyson Scholarship Foundation of Upper Darby High School.

ellenmcronin@gmail.com

Anne is a graduate of the Pierce School of Business. She started her career working for an advertising firm before switching to various Federal Savings and Loan Associations. Since 1998, Anne has worked for the Upper Darby Historical Society and has served as the secretary since 2003. She also produces its newsletter three times a year. Anne has been with Friends of Sellers Hall since 2009.

anne.livingston@verizon.net

Barbara has been a resident of Upper Darby Township since 1986 and has been involved with the Upper Darby Historical Society since 2006. She co-authored the Arcadia Publication “Images of America- Upper Darby”. She is the Treasurer of Friends of Sellers Hall Preservation Group and has been with the Delaware County Heritage Commission since 2013.

barbmarinelli@gmail.com

A founding member of FOSH, Lori has been there from the very beginning when it was just a grass roots organization. She is passionate about history and photographing historic properties and considers herself a "starving artist."

Lori also serves as a board memberboard member for the Upper Darby Historical Society, and has been involved in numerous projects including photo editing for their calendar and Arcadia book. She has volunteered with other historical societies and sites, putting together slideshows and programs for tours and events as well. An avid Genealogist for over 23 years, Lori has also coauthored "the Garrett Genealogy" along with cousin, and Garrett descendent, Robert E Seeley.

noname19082@yahoo.com

Dr. Clarke is Professor of Surgery at Drexel University. He was the first Clinical Director of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, where he is now Clinical Director Emeritus. He is also the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, the oldest surgical society in America. He is a former President of the United States Chapter of the International Society of Surgery and a former Governor of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Clarke was a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Patient Safety Data Standards that issued the report Patient Safety: Achieving a New Standard for Care, the basis of the national Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, which established Patient Safety Organizations and the Network of Patient Safety Databases. He is a member of the Federal Drug Administration Surgical Fires Prevention Workgroup and a consultant to the World Health Organization World Alliance for Patient Safety Hi 5s Project on Correct Site Surgery. Dr. Clarke has over 130 publications, focusing on the broad topics of surgical decision making and patient safety.

Dr. Clarke's interest in Sellers Hall stems from family history. He is a ninth generation decedent of Samuel Sellers.

jclarkemd@mac.com

Dr. Sekela Coles teaches classes in the Business Departments of Harcum College and Delaware County Community College. She was elected to Upper Darby Council in November of 2013. Some of Sekela’s activities on Council include community meetings, a Domestic Violence Awareness Workshop, a Discussion Panel celebrating Black History Month, a Spring Food Drive, and presenting for various community groups at their respective events. She was a 2012 Delegate for President Barack Obama and a member of the Transition Team for Governor Wolf.

As an involved community member, active parent, and the local council person for Upper Darby, Sekela was recently asked to serve on the Board of Directors for Friends of Sellers Hall.

sekelacoles@gmail.com

John is a retired architect who specialized in the restoration of historic buildings and in the design of new buildings in the classical style. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he was a board member of the Upper Darby Historical Society for many years and also served a term as president of the Society.

jdevine03@yahoo.com

Beverly received her Bachelor and Masters degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in education. She taught 35 years in the Upper Darby School District receiving several awards. She was later placed on the school “Wall of Fame” for her charity and volunteer works. She serves on the Board of three historical organizations and is a member of three others. In her national woman’s sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, she served on the Foundation Board, was a National Vice President and received the highest honor as “Woman of
Distinction.”

brorer@verizon.net

Jessica is a recent graduate of Saint Joseph's University, where she studied communications and marketing. She began working with FOSH during her freshman year as part of a work-study job. Her work for FOSH includes creating a presentation to show to potential members and donators, researching and grant writing, and establishing its professional presence online.

JMRutkowski16@gmail.com

Aaron Wunsch teaches architectural history and related subjects in Penn’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. He holds a B.A. in History from Haverford College, an M.A. in Architectural History from the University of Virginia, and a Doctorate in Architectural History from the University of California, Berkeley. His 2009 dissertation was entitled “Parceling the Picturesque: ‘Rural’ Cemeteries and Urban Context in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia.” Building on that work, he has curated an exhibition on Laurel Hill Cemetery at the Library Company of Philadelphia and written several scholarly articles and encyclopedia entries. He is the author of Palazzos of Power: Central Stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company, 1900-1930 (Princeton Architectural Press, 2016) and a forthcoming book on Philadelphia cemeteries (University of Pennsylvania). In 2015, he shared the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia's Public Service Award for Preservation in the Public Interest with Mayor W. Wilson Goode, Sr.