The Ohio State University at Marion, Harding Presidential Sites, and Ohio History Connection have partnered to bring history to life through the eyes of presidential scholars and experts as the 2025 Warren G. Harding Presidential explores Politics at the Doorstep: Presidential Front Porch Campaigns, July 18-19, 2025.
The symposium welcomes presidential experts Alan Gephardt from the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. Jennifer Capps, vice president of curatorship and exhibition at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Kimberely Kenney, executive director of the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, and Sherry Hall, site manager of the Harding Presidential Sites. The four experts will come together to provide the substance of the symposium during workshop sessions and the closing dinner and panel discussion at Ohio State Marion.
The two-day symposium event, which draws hundreds of attendees from across the country annually, features a Friday, July 18th Brown Bag Luncheon Program and evening Opening Reception at the Warren G. Harding Presidential Library and Museum. Day two of the symposium on Saturday, July 19th kicks off with an Official Presidential Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Harding Memorial, followed by Afternoon Workshop Sessions with presidential experts and concluding with the events Gala Dinner and Panel Discussion at The Ohio State University at Marion.
Opening workshop speaker Alan Gephardt has served as a park ranger at James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio since 2009. A native of Maryland, he earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Towson University and a master’s degree in history from the University of Maryland. Gephardt has worked in the museum field since 1990 and became an employee of the National Park Service in 2007. He has held postings at the Hampton National Historic Site in Towson, Maryland and at the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore. His lifelong interest in United States history and presidential history drew him to his current post. There his principal duties are to interpret the life and career of James A. Garfield to the public and conduct tours of the Garfield home. He has conducted extensive research in the Garfield papers at the Library of Congress. He regularly speaks to a wide variety of audiences and writes scholarly articles relating to Garfield’s life and times.
Jennifer Capps is a graduate of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis where she majored in history and anthropology. She has worked at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site for more than 30 years and currently serves as vice president of curatorship and exhibition. In that position she works with the Collections and Exhibitions Committee and the Building and Grounds Committee to oversee the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site collections and maintain the home of the nation’s 23rd president. Capps has served on the board of the Association of Indiana Museums, the Hoosier Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, and has been a member of several other professional organizations. She currently serves as the Regent of the Caroline Scott Harrison Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Capps lives in a historic Indianapolis neighborhood where she enjoys gardening and spending time with her family and pets.
Kimberly Kenney was named curator at the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum in 2001 and became executive director of the site in 2019. She received a bachelor’s degree in American history and creative writing from Wells College in Aurora, NY. She also earned a master’s degree in history museum studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. She is the author of nine books, including Exploring the American Presidency through 50 Historic Treasures, Stark County Food: From Early Farming to Modern Meals and Murder in Stark County. Her works have appeared in several professional and literary publications, and her program “The 1918 Influenza Pandemic” was featured on the C-SPAN network series American History TV. She is a board member of the Ohio Local History Alliance and Friends of Canton City Parks & Recreation and serves on the City Landmark Commission for the City of Canton.
Sherry Hall is a native of Marion, Ohio and graduated from Heidelberg University with majors in both English and American Studies. She began her career in journalism as a reporter for The Marion Star, serving as city hall and police reporter, as well as the Sunday edition editor. She later served as an editor at The Alliance Review and bureau chief at The (Canton) Repository. Hall has been site manager of the Harding Presidential Sites in Marion, Ohio since 2009. Prior to that, she managed the education programs for the site for nine years. She is an historian who specializes in the lives and times of Warren and Florence Harding. She is the author of the 2014 book, Warren G. Harding and The Marion Daily Star: How Newspapering Shaped a President. She also authored a video script about the Harding’s, designed education programs about the Harding era for schoolchildren and adults, and has written numerous newspaper and magazine articles.
Those wishing to register the symposium or individual portions of the symposium should visit: https://www.showclix.com/event/the-2025-warren-g-harding-symposium. Registration for the 2025 Warren G. Harding Symposium runs through Friday, June 27, 2025.