Staff

Bradley T. Lepper

Curator of Archaeology 
614-298-2064 
blepper@ohiohistory.org

Dr. Lepper earned his B.A. degree from the University of New Mexico and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Ohio State University. His primary areas of interest include the Ice Age peoples of North America, Ohio's magnificent mounds and earthworks, and the history of North American archaeology. Dr. Lepper has written extensively on these subjects for both technical journals and magazines intended for a general audience. He is the author of the book, Ohio Archaeology: an illustrated chronicle of Ohio's ancient American Indian cultures, published in 2005 by Orange Frazer Press. He also writes a bi-weekly column on archaeology for the Columbus Dispatch.

Especially noteworthy research includes the excavation of the Burning Tree mastodon in December of 1989 (named one of the top 50 science discoveries of 1990 by Discovermagazine in their January 1991 issue) and the discovery of the Great Hopewell Road, first reported in 1995 (see Archaeology magazine, November/December 1995). Dr. Lepper's research on the Great Hopewell Road was featured in the public television documentarySearching for the Great Hopewell Road first broadcast in April of 1998.

Dr. Lepper was born and raised in northeastern Ohio, and now lives in Newark, in the vicinity of the extensive ancient earthworks of that region, with his wife Karen, two children, two dogs, and four cats.

Linda Pansing

Curator of Archaeology 
614-298-2061 
lpansing@ohiohistory.org

As Curator Linda Pansing is responsible for the creation and upkeep of department databases and records, performs cataloging and other collection care and research duties. In the course of her work she has had the opportunity to conduct investigations at several Society holdings including Pickawillany; Fort Ancient; U.S. Grant Boyhood Home, School House and Birthplace; John Rankin House; Miamisburg Mound; Fort Meigs; Flint Ridge;Newark Earthworks; Leo Petroglyph; Harrison Tomb; Quaker Meeting House; Zoar; Paul Laurence Dunbar House; and the Ohio River Museum.

Linda is an avid scuba diver and has managed to mesh her passion for archaeology with diving right here in Ohio. She is a founding member, and present board member of the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST), a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to the documentation of Ohio's underwater cultural resources, otherwise known as shipwrecks. Efforts of MAST have resulted in the instruction of hundreds of scuba divers from Ohio, surrounding states and Canada on underwater survey techniques; Ohio, national and international shipwreck law, research and report writing. The outcomes have been the listing of shipwrecks as Ohio archaeological sites with the State Historic Preservation Office, project reports, and Ohio's first underwater dive slates (maps) of shipwrecks.

In addition to MAST, Linda's other memberships include the American Anthropological Association, Association for Great Lakes History, Midwest Archaeological Conference, National Speleological Society, Ohio Archaeological Council, Ohio Council of Skin and Scuba Divers, Save Ontario Shipwrecks, Society of American Anthropologists, Society for Historical Archaeology and several Ohio dive clubs.

She was born and raised in Marion County, just north of Waldo, Ohio. She presently resides in Delaware with her husband Scott, Dee Dee the dog, and Zoë the cat.

William H. Pickard

Assistant Curator 

Born and raised in central Ohio, William Pickard worked several years in the pipeline construction industry before becoming involved in archaeology as a discipline. Since doing so he has participated at different levels in investigations at some very unique sites both in and outside the state of Ohio. A 1995 graduate of the Ohio State University with degrees in anthropology and art history, William joined the OHS staff in 1999 to assist in the cataloging of artifacts for the mandated NAGPRA survey although he had previously worked on research projects affiliated with the Ohio Historical Society. These included the Burning Tree Mastadon excavations in 1989, Serpent Mound in 1991, the Great Circle in Newark in 1992 and Fort Laurens and Flint Ridge State Memorials in 1997. Prior to joining the OHS staff he was involved in a variety of projects sponsored by other institutions such as the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the National Park Service and the Buffalo Museum of Science at such notable sites as the Capitolium Mound in Marietta, Ohio, the Highbank and Hopeton earthworks and the Hopewell Mound group in Ross County Ohio and the East Wenatchee Clovis Site in East Wenatchee, Washington.

Since the completion of the NAGPRA survey Bill has supervised the archaeology connected with the reconstruction of Fort Meigs and remote sensing projects and excavations at the Fort Laurens, Pickawillany, Fort Ancient and the Grant Boyhood Homesites. He also does archaeological monitoring of construction and capital improvement projects at the many OHS sites. He is currently overseeing in the field the Save America's Treasures erosion control and restoration project at Fort Ancient State Memorial. Other duties at OHS involve assisting visiting researchers as well as the cataloging and physical maintenance of the Society's archaeological collections. Bill has authored and co-authored a number of articles and reports, and given several papers at professional meetings and numerous presentations to avocational and other interest groups.

William's other fields of interest include pre-Civil War firearms, edged weapons and accouterments, flint projectile point typology, flint sourcing and stone tool technology.

For pastime enjoyment Bill enjoys photography, traveling to different archaeological sites and exhibits and reading vintage archaeology books and publications.

Martha Otto

Curator Emerita

Since joining the OHS staff in 1961, Martha Otto has served in a variety of capacities from Student Assistant to Senior Curator of Archaeology. During her tenure, she has participated in numerous excavations of Adena, Hopewell, Late Woodland, and Late Prehistoric sites in central and southern Ohio. She has participated in the development and installation of all the exhibits at the Society's archaeological site museums as well as the archaeological exhibits at the Ohio Historical Center, including The First Ohioans andWindows To Our Collections:  Ohio's Ancient Past.

As a steward of the Society's extensive archaeological collections, Martha works with OHS staff and volunteers to physically maintain the collections and to make them more accessible to the public. Martha coordinates loans of OHS artifacts for exhibition at other institutions, most recently with the Art Institute of Chicago to which the Society loaned a number of objects for the critically-acclaimed, multi-venue show, Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. She also enjoys working with colleagues from other museums and universities who frequently examine portions of the archaeological collections as part of their own research projects. The Society's Late Woodland collections formed the basis for her Master's degree in anthropology from the Ohio State University.

In the area of public education, Martha teaches DISCOVER ARCHAEOLOGY!, a program that introduces elementary school classes to the science of archaeology in an interactive, hands-on program including both field work and laboratory experience. She assisted in the production of and provided content for two CD-ROMs produced by the Society, The Hopewell Mound Group: Its People and Their Legacy, and What's the Point? Identifying Flint Artifacts.

Her personal research interests focus on the development of ceramics and of agriculture in the Ohio Valley. Her study of the effigy pipes from the Tremper mound is documented in: Masterworks in Pipestone: Treasures from Tremper Mound, Timeline, 1(1), Ohio Historical Society, Columbus (1984); A Prehistoric Menagerie: Ohio Hopewell Effigy Pipes;Proceedings of the 1989 Smoking Pipe Conference: Selected Papers, Rochester Museum and Science Center Research Records No. 22, Rochester, NY (1992)

She also recently contributed a chapter, A Brief History of Archaeological Investigations at Fort Ancient, Warren County, Ohio, in The Fort Ancient Earthworks: Prehistoric Lifeways of the Hopewell Culture in Southwestern Ohio, edited by Connolly and Lepper, and published by OHS (2004).

Martha has served as president of the Archaeological Society of Ohio, the Ohio Archaeological Council, and the Eastern States Archaeological Federation.

Martha and her husband, Frank, are active in a number of local ASO chapters. Leisure-time activities include traveling with Frank, particularly to other museums and archaeological sites.

Chandler S. Herson

Archaeology Collections Assistant
614-298-2059 
cherson@ohiohistory.org

Chandler Herson earned a B.A. in Anthropology from Heidelberg University and a M.A. in Anthropology from Western Michigan University. His primary areas of interest include Historic and Military Archaeology, Great Lakes Archaeology, Northern Plains Archaeology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Patterning of Archaeological sites and Cultural Resource Management.

Chandler is a Registered Professional Archaeologist with several years of experience in Cultural Resource Management in nine different states. He has worked on and published numerous technical reports for oil and gas projects, windfarm projects, gravel and transportation projects, telecommunication projects, waterline projects, housing development projects and site testing and evaluation projects. He has also performed historic architectural surveys for farmsteads, homesteads and municipal airports.

Chandler assists the Ohio Historical Society archaeology curators with facility-based projects and cultural resource site management of Ohio Historical Society sites.

Chandler was born and raised in central Ohio. He currently resides with his wife, Valerie and two children, Liana and Micah, in Hilliard. He has two cats, Emeril and Oscar.