History program to spotlight Gov. William H.H. Ross

The Milford Museum will continue its American History Series at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 11, at Milford Public Library, 11 S.E. Front St., Milford.

The guest speaker will be Claudia Furnish Leister, former Milford Museum director, who will preview her book about Delaware Gov. William H.H. Ross. 

As an antebellum governor of Delaware, Ross was a slave owner in the Seaford area, as were his father and grandfather. Ross became a very controversial figure during the Civil War due to his Confederate sympathies. Also important were the decisions made and the actions taken by Ross as a Delaware planter within the context of the impact of slavery, the declining soil fertility, the changing commodity markets and the advent of the railroad.

Leister grew up in Milford and later moved to Michigan, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in archaeology/anthropology from Michigan State University. She returned to Delaware, where she eventually became curator and collections manager for Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs in 1980. After retiring from the State of Delaware in 2011, she was invited to become a member of the Milford Museum board. A year later, she was appointed as its first executive director. Leister had previously served as president of the Seaford Historical Society from 1991 to 2000. During her time as Milford Museum president, she completed the first total inventory of its collections, computerization of the collections database, and creation of new exhibits using modern methods and standards. She retired from the position in 2023, but continues to serve as a volunteer curator.

Sponsored by the Milford Museum, these monthly programs focus on a variety of topics concerning local, state and national history.

For more information, contact the museum at 302-424-1080 or info@milforddemuseum.org. Programs are offered through a generous grant from the Delaware Heritage Commission.