Longtime Haverhill community activist Maureen Ferris was recently elected to the board of directors of the Duston-Dustin Garrison House Association, succeeding Diane Itasaka.
A former teacher in Boston public schools, Ferris serves on the board of the Massachusetts Children’s Alliance, working statewide with families and victims of child abuse, and was legislative director of the Children’s Trust, coordinating with the Pew Charitable Trusts. For more than 20 years she has served as executive director of the Legislative Children’s Caucus, working with legislators and child advocates across the state. She has also worked as coordinator of a statewide worker retraining program.
A Haverhill resident and avid local history buff, Ferris is president of the board of the Friends of the Haverhill Public Library, where she coordinates and trains volunteers, and is very active in local politics.
With the election of Ferris, the Duston Garrison House Association board is comprised of President Josiah E. Morrow, Vice President Jon Dustin, Clerk David Jellison and Directors Ronald Dustin, Craig Richardson, David A. Dustin, Harry L. Gray III and Thomas Spitalere.
One of Haverhill’s seven “cultural treasures,” the 1697 Duston Garrison House was completed by Thomas Duston in 1697 and first occupied by him and his wife, Hannah, upon her celebrated escape from captivity in April 1697. It was acquired by the Duston-Dustin family in 1945 when it was refurbished and listed on the National Register of Historic Places through the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
The Duston Garrison House’s last open house of the season is slated for Saturday, Oct. 21, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Donations are accepted.