Meet Our Team

Amanda, a lifelong resident of Deer Park Township in LaSalle County, has maintained a strong interest in history with a particular focus on local heritage. Her family has been active in the society for many years, and Amanda began her involvement by assisting with the Burgoo Festival in 2014. Since then, she has contributed to numerous facets of the organization, including the extensive digitization of LCHS archives, upkeep and preservation of the campus facilities, development of programming and special exhibitions, as well as fostering community support through donations and sponsorships. Amanda’s primary motivation is the opportunity to further her knowledge of LaSalle County’s rich historical narrative and its people.

Kinnason Jackson is from LaSalle County. She attended Saint Bede Academy and started at the LaSalle County Historical Society as a volunteer before being hired on as a docent. She has since been trained in collections organization and oversees the curation of our collections. She is currently in attendance at IVCC for her Associates of Arts, and plans to pursue her Bachelors in Museum Studies. Her passion is for preserving and sharing local stories. 

Living in the city of LaSalle her entire life, Riley attended St. Bede Academy for high school, and went on to graduate Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s
degree in Anthropology from Northern Illinois University. Riley has always had a deep interest in
history and archival work, even earning a Dean’s Award during the course of her museum studies
work. Her interest began here at home, however, with a memorable visit to the LaSalle County Historical Society and I&M Canal as a child. Today, she serves as Archivist at the LCHS, helping with our mission to discover, collect, and preserve the rich history of LaSalle County. 

Born and raised in the heart of the Illinois Valley, Petranella has fostered a deep love of history from a young age. During her time at St Bede Academy, she logged over 1,013 volunteer hours- nearly half of which came from her time acting as an 'assistant archivist' at the LCHS, working with the collections and sharing local history with the public. After a brief hiatus, Petranella returned to the Society as a volunteer with the hope of rejuvenating the Museums' online presence, and was later given the opportunity to expand her knowledge of the collection and museum operations during a 4 month internship. Today, Petranella is proud to be a part of the LCHS Staff, serving as the Events Coordinator & Social Media Manager, where she is able to share local stories, and combine her love of history with her passion for art and writing. 

Taylor is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto and member of the LaSalle County Historical Society. As an archaeologist and geographer, her work is grounded in a commitment to community-based practices that recognize the authority of local knowledge, particularly in relation to historically excluded communities. She is currently collaborating with the Kitikmeot Heritage Society of Iqaluktuuttiaq/Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada on a digital atlas prefaced on shared knowledge production between archaeologists and Inuit families. Prior to her graduate studies, Taylor completed two bachelor’s degrees of highest distinction at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in Anthropology and Geography-GIS. She has over a decade of archaeological field experience, research, and teaching at the post-secondary level, which she volunteers to LCHS staff as a consultant and member of the Museum’s Collections Committee.