Skippack Historical Society

Effective Public History: Opportunities for Connecting Local History to America’s 250th

Dr. David Young is the Executive Director of the Historical Society of Montgomery County. He is author of The Battles of Germantown: Effective Public History in America (Temple University Press, 2019), which won the 2020 Klein Prize by the Pennsylvania Historical Association for the book the best illuminates Pennsylvania history.

Young has led historic organizations in the region, including the Salem County Historical Society, Cliveden of the National Trust, and the Delaware Historical Society—he also served as the first director of the Johnson House Historic Site, a national historic landmark on the Underground Railroad in Germantown.
A native of Chicago who has lived in Germantown for 4 decades, he received a BA from Northwestern and an MA and PhD in History from Ohio State University.

A Fulbright Scholar, he has served on the faculty of area colleges, including teaching for 10 years in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania and the History Leadership Institute in Indianapolis.

Among his many leadership roles in the field, he was president of the Historic Germantown consortium of museums, served on the Landmarks Committee recommending National Historic Landmarks to the National Park Service, and was longtime treasurer of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. He currently serves on the Montgomery County 250 Commission.

Interested in presenting or leading a program? We welcome proposals from historians, educators, reenactors, and community members. Please reach out to info@skippack.org to learn more.

Come learn, share, and explore local history with us.