CLARISSA SANDERS l Director of Research and Collections
csanders@menokin.org

Clarissa has over ten years of experience working in museums. Before joining the Menokin staff in 2019, Clarissa worked as a Researcher for both Henrico and Spotsylvania County, working on large projects such as the 150th commemoration of the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse and researching over 100 historical homes and families as part of Henrico’s Inventory of Early Architecture. In 2015, Clarissa served as Administrator of the John J. Wright Museum, curating exhibitions including Wraps of Royalty: African American Head-Coverings from Colonization to the Present and Our Founding Fathers: African American Leaders during the Jim Crow Era.

Clarissa is a native of Spotsylvania, Virginia. She graduated from Bridgewater College with a BA in History. She earned a MA in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma and also a MA in History from George Mason University with concentrations in slavery and gender in antebellum America. Clarissa's research examined how antebellum Americans discussed ideas of masculinity by examining obituaries and reports written following steamboat accidents. When Clarissa isn’t at work, she spends time with her loveable Jack Russell, attends concerts, or plays board games with her family.