About us.
Reckoning with Lancaster is a Mellon Foundation-funded engagement, research, and teaching project at Franklin & Marshall College that will last until 2027. The Year 1 focus is Indigeneity, Settler Colonialism, and the Land Question. This year, the project is led by two faculty fellows, the anthropologists Mary Ann Levine and Eric Hirsch, and two community fellows who are leaders in the Lancaster-area Indigenous community, MaryAnn Robins (Onondaga) and Jess McPherson (Susquehanna).
Community fellow MaryAnn Robins (Onondaga)
MaryAnn Robins (Onondaga) is the President of Circle Legacy Center, the main Lancaster-based nonprofit organization focused on supporting and empowering Indigenous community members.
She is Onondaga and grew up on Haudenosaunee tribal lands in upstate NY. She graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and worked as an interpreter in the Wampanoag history program at Plimoth Plantation while in Massachusetts. Here in Pennsylvania, she has served as a Plain community liaison for WellSpan Health in New Holland and Ephrata. She is a Carlisle Indian School descendant and former Board member of the Carlisle Indian School Project. She has worked tirelessly on educational programming and advocacy projects designed to elevate the voices of Indigenous peoples. MaryAnn is well known in Lancaster and throughout our region as an indefatigable advocate for the Indigenous community.
Community fellow Jess McPherson (Susquehanna)
Jess McPherson (Susquehanna) is a Master Artisan and arts & culture strategist with two decades of change making experience in the arts & culture impact sector.
She earned a Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice and a BFA from Pennsylvania College of Art & Design. She serves on the Board of Directors at Circle Legacy Center and participates on the Lancaster Longhouse Educational Oversight Committee. She has most recently acted as Finance Director for Native American LifeLines, Inc in Baltimore. In addition, she participated in the “We Are of the Land: Applied De-colonial Practice in East Coast Tribal Communities” roundtable at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association conference. Notable partnerships also include the Eastern 2 Spirit and Indigiqueer Gathering, Maryland State Arts Council, Montgomery and Frederick Colleges, the Cultural Alliance of York County, and Creative York. She currently owns and operates Jess McPherson Arts & Consulting in York, PA, maintaining an active creative practice, while co-creating strategies for growth with individual artists and culturally centered impact initiatives in Native and non-Native communities throughout the MidAtlantic.
Faculty fellow
Mary Ann Levine
Mary Ann Levine is a professor of anthropology at Franklin & Marshall College.
Faculty fellow Eric Hirsch
Eric Hirsch is an associate professor of environmental studies at Franklin & Marshall College.