One Year Later: Remembering Marcia Folsom

On April 16th of last year, our friend, colleague, and mentor Marcia McClintock Folsom passed away. While she had been our board chair since 2007 and a trustee since 1991, most importantly, she carried forward the spark that her husband Mike had kindled almost 40 years ago.

For those who are not already aware of the history of this place, the Charles River Museum was founded in 1980 by Marcia’s husband, Mike Folsom, an MIT professor of industrial history who breathed new life into this derelict yet historically significant mill. Shortly before the Museum opened to the public in 1988, Mike suffered a stroke and tragically passed away in 1990.

To honor Mike’s legacy, Marcia would accept an invitation to join the Museum’s Board the following year. She served officially as corporate Clerk and Secretary for many years before becoming President and Board Chair. But she was the Museum’s heart and soul throughout her thousands of days of service, no matter what the role.

One of Marcia’s many wonderful traits was the grace with which she fully embraced this path. She herself was an esteemed professor, although in a very different field. Marcia is celebrated in literary circles as a leading scholar on Jane Austen and retired only a few years ago from a long and distinguished career as Professor of Literature and Chair of Humanities and Writing at Wheelock College. I encourage all to read the wonderful reflections on her own many-faceted legacy that are available online.

We who serve the Charles River Museum as Trustees, Volunteers, and Staff, miss her dearly. Always so positive and poised, there was never anyone more kind, inquisitive, thoughtful, and respectful. She always made each of us feel valued, appreciated, and supported.

Anyone fortunate and privileged enough to know and to work with Marcia Folsom understands what this Museum meant to her. We can all count our blessings that she understood what this Museum means to our community and country, and invested that knowledge into decades of heartfelt and practical service.

While I am proud to serve as the current board chair, I am sad to do so without the wise counsel and warm friendship that I know Marcia would have offered. She will remain a guiding light to me and to all who knew her.

Rudy Ruggles
Chair,  Charles River Museum Board of Trustees