(August 31, 2006) - The Board of the La Jolla Historical Society is pleased to announce the appointment of John H. Bolthouse, III as its new executive director.
Bolthouse, the former Chief Operating Officer of the San Diego Air & Space Museum, is a graduate of Northeast Louisiana University where he majored in aeronautical sciences and history.
Board President Judy Haxo said, "The growth that we've experienced and the challenges that we've committed to in recent years under the leader of [former executive director] Pat Dahlberg and the Board have lead naturally to the Society's need for a full-time executive director. The Directors are really excited about working with John as our first full-time Executive Director. We believe his experience and talents will serve the Society very well."
Bolthouse moved to San Diego in 1997 to attend graduate school at the University of San Diego. While attending school, he served as Archivist at the Tailhook Association, an organization dedicated to the history and promotion of naval carrier aviation. Bolthouse began work on identifying, cataloging and preserving the thousands of photographs, slides, books, documents and artifacts in the Tailhook collection and was soon hired as a full-time employee. He left Tailhook to become Assistant Curator at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas where he helped design and create many of the Museum's exhibits, organized the Museum library, assumed the managing editor's position of the Museum's newsletter, and coordinated many of the volunteers in performing research and promoting LSFM's image in the community. In addition, under his direction, the Museum released its first published guidebook to its collection, featuring the aircraft and engines on display at the Lone Star Flight Museum.
Bolthouse returned to California when the opportunity to assume the position of Head Archivist at the world-renown San Diego Aerospace Museum arose in June 2000. In March 2003, he was promoted to Deputy Director for Operations and in October 2003 named Vice President for Operations. During his tenure, Bolthouse was instrumental in acquiring many of the one-of-a-kind artifacts presently on display as well as helping the Museum achieve Affiliate status with the Smithsonian Institution.
"This is an exciting time in the La Jolla Historical Society's history. I hope to contribute to this outstanding organization's vision to mature into a more robust and higher profile cultural institution," Bolthouse said. "I'm grateful to Pat Dahlberg and the Society's exceptional board, staff and volunteers for their invaluable support during the transition period. We have a great many things to do; I look forward to the challenges ahead."
Dedicated to the discovery, collection and preservation of La Jolla's historical artifacts, The La Jolla Historical Society's offices and archives are located at 7446 Eads Avenue, La Jolla, in the 1909 beach cottage that was moved to its present location behind Wisteria Cottage in 1981. Open to the public Tuesday and Thursday's from noon to 4:00 p.m. (858) 459-533 www.ljhs.org.
Media Contact: Ruth Varonfakis (858) 273-0928
RCVaronfakis@aol.com
www.ljhs.org
