Our Mission
Our Board Members and Staff
John Drury
Ibiyinka Alao
His childhood story, Ibi’s Fireflies won the Grand Prize of the Nonfiction Category of the Scholastic Kids Are Authors Writing Contest and is filed by the Smithsonian Museum Library as his biography in Washington, D.C. It was adapted from his original book, My Fireflies: Memories of My Childhood.
Ibiyinka has been involved with the Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center since he first visited the schools in Jim Thorpe in 2012, and is happy to serve as the Museum’s current President and CEO.
Kaila Buck Alao
Barbara Mumma
Barbara has a background as an Executive Assistant and Secretary. In New York City she began her career working as a Secretary for the CBS Television Network for five years. A highlight during this time was being able to attend many live shows and sometimes meet the talent. She and her twin sister, Dottie, have special memories of February 1964 – they sat in one of the front rows of the audience at the Ed Sullivan Show. They excitedly witnessed the very first live performances of The Beatles.
Later, Barbara worked as the Secretary/Executive Assistant for the President of Jack Morton Worldwide, a major marketing company. Next, her career shifted to Hollywood, California, where she was a legal secretary for an entertainment law firm. After returning East, she rejoined Jack Morton Worldwide, working with the key management and creative teams for another long period of time.
The town’s beauty brought her to Jim Thorpe where she worked as a legal secretary, and then as a production manager for a local Carbon County magazine. The love of community involvement and cherishing the town’s historical roots led Barbara to the Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center, Inc.
From July 2019 through October 2022, Barbara was the History Guide/Docent at the Kemmerer Carriage House which is located downtown next to Kemmerer Park. Barbara shared the town’s local stories, especially the “front hill families” which had their homes next to Kemmerer Park, (located downtown overlooking the Lehigh River). As the Secretary/Treasurer of the Museum, Barbara works closely with the President and other Board Members. She also assists with details for the Mauch Chunk Museum and Ballroom’s event programs.
Personally, Barbara and her twin sister, Dottie, recently had published a book of their late mother, Dorothy’s, poetry. The book also includes copies of Dorothy’s watercolor paintings. Additionally, many of Barbara’s photographs are aligned in the book with many of her mother’s poems. The book is entitled Does Every Little Bud on the Bush that Grows Try to Make Room for Another Rose? This title is the line of one of her mother, Dorothy’s, poems. This book is published by Christian Faith Publishing and is available from various online book selling websites. It is sold in hard cover, soft cover, and e-book versions.
Barbara and Dottie live in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, with their small dog.
Karliene Zack
Karliene joined the Civil Air Patrol at the age of sixteen and then signed up for the Air Force right after graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1970. She went into the Air Force three weeks later. In the Air Force, she worked as an Administrative Specialist in Special Services on base. After Technical training she was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota where she met her future husband, Bill. She was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant two years later. When they were discharged, they moved to live in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Having settled in Pennsylvania, she worked as a sales clerk at Hess’s Department Store and then went on to other jobs until she had her first child. Her next occupation was working at the Turkey Hill, and at WYNS Radio Station as the Traffic Director. They moved to Jim Thorpe in 1988 along with their two daughters.
In 2016, Karliene produced a Historical Fashion Show “Ten Decades of Fashion” in the Ballroom of the Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center. One year later, Karliene began working at the Mauch Chunk Museum as a museum tour guide. In 2018, she became the Director of the Museum. Her husband Bill is the Property Manager and Co-Director of the Museum. Karliene greets customers and gives tours detailing the very important role the town had in our country’s history.
Karliene is also an artist and jewelry maker. She uses pieces of anthracite coal, which are sometimes referred to as black diamonds, in her hand-carved jewelry. Karliene makes ladies’ necklaces and bracelets as well as ladies’ and men’s rings. Karliene hand carves the coal pieces to fit the different settings. Her jewelry is sold at the Mauch Chunk Museum as well as at the National Canal Museum in Easton, PA.
William Zack
Tawnya Amer-Brill
Nora Kattner
Bill Allison
Robert Stevenson
