After guiding Sharlot Hall Museum since October 2013, Executive Director Fred Veil will be retiring at the end of this month. In his honor, Sharlot Hall recently dedicated the new multi-story brick Education Center to him.
Under Veil’s leadership, the popular open-air museum has modernized its campus, the most recent addition being the Education Center, which will accommodate 135 people for performances and events. It also contains classrooms.
Veil also spearheaded the introduction of sophisticated technological advances in the 11 buildings on the four-acre campus of the 93-year-old museum.
A graduate of the law school at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Veil had been a senior legal executive with several global corporations before retiring to Prescott in 2000. In 2004, he initiated the popular Western History Symposium. During Veil’s years as director, membership and attendance have grown significantly, making Sharlot Hall Museum one of the most popular visitor destinations in central Arizona.
“I’ve had a great run, but it’s time for another to take the museum to the next level,” Veil said.
“During his tenure, Fred has reinvigorated the museum by pulling together an outstanding staff and volunteers who embellished existing tradition with innovative and contemporary programs,” said Prescott Historical Society and Sharlot Hall Historical Society President Kim Finston. QCBN
By Ray Newton, QCBN