Laura Johnson-Kelly

Tompkins County Historian from 2023-Present

Laura Johnson-Kelly has a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, both in Anthropology/Archaeology. She was Town Historian for the Town of Ithaca for 11 years and has been part of the Municipal Historians of Tompkins County group since 2004, with whom she collaborated to produce a local history book, Tompkins County, New York: Images of Work and Play (2009). She was appointed to the role of Tompkins County Historian in 2023. 

Laura has over 20 years of curatorial experience working with several different museum collections at Cornell University; she is also an experienced conservator, with skills in digital archives management. Laura has extensive program management skills and has planned lecture series, outreach programming at local schools, history-themed special events, and academic conferences.  She has a firm commitment to lifelong learning and has been active in a wide range of community organizations.  Laura has served on various local and state executive boards, including the Lake View Cemetery board and the NY State Archaeological Association (NYSAA).  She has been President of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the NYSAA since 2010, and (pre-covid) ran a monthly lecture series at Ithaca College which drew participants from all area colleges and universities, as well as a broad range of community members interested in learning about the past.