STAFF DIRECTORY

Executive Director
Kansas Historical Society

Jennie Chinn has been executive director of the Kansas Historical Society, the state agency, since 2004. She previously served as Education Division Director, from 1991 to 2004, and served as interim executive director of the Historical Society in 2002.

In her position as education director, Chinn authored The Kansas Journey, the seventh grade textbook for Kansas history. More than 28,000 students across the state use this text for their studies of the state’s history. She served as co-chair of the Kansas history curriculum standards in both 1999 and 2004. She also taught folklore classes at Washburn University from 1986 to 2004. She joined the Historical Society in 1982 as the Kansas State Folklorist.

Chinn is a Kansan by choice, living in the state since 1980. “I am passionate about Kansas history,” she said. “The state has been at the forefront of many issues important to the development of this nation.”

Earlier in her career Chinn served as a librarian at the Folklore Center at the University of California, Los Angeles; and she taught history, language arts, and speech at the middle school level. She holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities and a master’s degree in folklore and mythology from the University of California. Chinn lives with her family in Topeka.

Executive Director/CEO
Kansas Historical Foundation

Vicky Henley serves as executive director/CEO for the Kansas Historical Foundation. Henley leads the 60-member board of directors, and 3,000-member organization.

Henley joined the Kansas Historical Foundation in 2006 after serving as associate director of gift planning at the University of Kansas Endowment Association, where she cultivated and solicited major and planned gifts. She previously served the association as development director for the graduate school and international programs. From 1987 to 2000, Henley was director of the Kansas Film Commission, where she promoted and facilitated film production in Kansas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Kansas.

A fourth generation Kansan, Henley has traveled the state extensively. In her work at the Kansas Historical Foundation Henley helps to build the financial infrastructure for the foundation and works closely with members of the board of directors, located around the state. “I have a deep and abiding love of Kansas, its people, and rich history.”