Welch Alumni Relations Award

Barby A. Singer has served as assistant to the director of the Richards Civil War Era Center (RCWEC) since 2005. Her work with RCWEC, its Board of Visitors, and with alumni and friends more broadly, has been a cornerstone of the center’s success.  Barby organizes the Board of Visitors’ annual meetings to places of historic significance such as Williamsburg, Richmond, Springfield, and Harper’s Ferry. These “off-site” events include much more than a business meeting and a museum tour; they involve arranging lectures, tours, behind-the-scenes access to archives and special collections, period food and beverage, and even hands-on experiences handling artifacts. Her scrapbooks of these experiences have become treasured keepsakes for alumni who make these trips. Barby also coordinates the logistics of numerous other events sponsored by RCWEC, including lecture series, workshops, conferences, and the center’s emerging scholars programs. By consistently taking the initiative to help RCWEC put its best foot forward, she has inspired significant goodwill and support for the center – including helping RCWEC qualify for and receive a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.