Holly Wait led the National Civil War Naval Museum for 10 years. Her 'transformative' leadership, grit and humor will be remembered Thursday at celebration of life

Holly Wait lifts ribbon-cutting scissors and a glass after CSS Chattahoochee work (Terra Mare Conservation)

Holly Beasley Wait’s friendliness, good cheer and distinctive laugh were her calling cards, whether when talking to a stranger or working with colleagues at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga.

When challenges came along, the museum’s executive director exhibited another side of her character: determination.

Such was the case when tragedy struck in June 2020. An arson fire roared through an outside storage area, severely damaging a unique component of the CSS Jackson and scorching the engines of the CSS Chattahoochee, the other key attraction at the museum in the river city.

Former curator Jeff Seymour remembers feeling devastated. But Wait’s mettle and leadership came to the fore, he recalls.

“She brought the team together and said, ‘We are going to get through this and go to the next step.’”

Wait, who was always thinking of the next step in improving the museum’s collection and outreach to the community, died Feb. 19 at a local hospital. Her unexpected passing has jolted the institution’s staff.

The museum at 1002 Victory Drive will host a celebration of Wait’s life at 6 p.m. ET Thursday (March 6). The funeral for the public historian, who was 64, is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday (March 8) at Miles-Odum Funeral Home Chapel in her native Waycross, Ga.

Wait was at the helm of the National Civil War Naval Museum for nearly 10 years.

“Holly's leadership … has been transformative,” the museum says. “She successfully navigated the institution through financial challenges and expanded its national reach. The National Civil War Naval Museum survived the pandemic because of her leadership. The museum's visitation numbers have reached their highest levels under her leadership. Her innovative programming and vision have broadened the museum's appeal, welcoming diverse audiences to engage with and learn from its exhibits.”

Wait worked with the Navy to create an exhibit displaying artifacts from the CSS Georgia, a floating battery that defended Savannah during the Civil War (Propeller in photo, left). The museum acquired letters written by a Federal engineer describing the blockade of Charleston, S.C.

The executive director and staff organized countless lectures and a 2016 symposium, “Wrecks, Recovery & Conservation.” The speakers featured preeminent conservation experts who have been tasked with helping bring the stories of the CSS Georgia, USS Monitor and the submarine H.L. Hunley to the public.

Among them was renowned conservator Paul Mardikian, who has worked on numerous projects, including the Hunley and CSS Alabama.

Mardikian and Claudia Chemello, who formed Terra Mare Conservation, cleaned and treated the Chattahoochee’s engines and the Jackson’s fantail after the fire.

“Claudia and I remember Holly for her wonderful spirit, great sense of humor and infectious laugh,” Mardikian wrote the Picket in an email. “She was never fazed by a challenge and was a true advocate for conservation. Both she and … Jeff Seymour showed remarkable strength and resolve after the devastating fire that destroyed much of the CSS Jackson's fantail.”

Wait (center), Paul Mardikian (second from left), Claudia Chemello and Jeff Seymour, to Wait's left, during discussion about the CSS Jackson's fantail (Terra Mare Conservation)

The engines are now on display next to the hybrid Confederate gunboat.

The giant remains of the CSS Jackson, also constructed in the Chattahoochee River, are the star attraction of the museum.

Portions of the surviving fantail wood and armor plates are stacked below, awaiting possible recreation of the section of armor plating that protected the rudder and propellers of the ironclad. An engineer created a digital record that will guide a possible reconstruction. Funding has not been procured.

Wait helped ensure the success of the annual RiverBlast Festival, which features firing of a 7-inch Brooke rifle, and a host of events -- including car shows, barbecue tastings and paranormal tours -- that broadened the museum’s mission.

In recent years, the venue expanded its support of more voices in its lecture lineup, ensuring the service of African-Americans during the Civil War received its due.

Seymour, now curator at the Erie Maritime Museum in Pennsylvania, said Wait’s deep experience in nonprofits and museum led efforts to build attendance and financial stability, especially when the local government reduced funding.

“She would work diligently to make sure the books were balanced. We looked at new ways to fund exhibits,” he said. “Anything to become more visible.”

Wait relied heavily on her staff, according to Seymour. “She did not make decisions out of the blue, and we discussed things at length before anything moved.”

Among the initiatives Wait championed are two social media fixtures: “Curator’s Corner” and another YouTube channel focusing on Navy lingo over the years.

“The museum thrived under her leadership, but Holly was so much more. Holly was the kind of person everyone instantly loved,” her obituary says.

“I don’t think the next person will be able to fill her shoes,” says Seymour.

CSS Jackson fantail (left) before the fire, which charred historic and modern vessels (Picket photos)

The museum has not announced an interim director as it navigates the days ahead.

“Her leadership has yielded many benefits already, but the greatest rewards are yet to be seen, as she has initiated numerous projects that are still developing and expanding,” it said of Wait.

Wait had degrees from Valdosta State University and Florida State University and served at institutions in Georgia and Florida for more than three decades, including the Jekyll Island Museum, the Museum of Florida History, the Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida, Okefenokee Heritage Center and Beaches Area Historical Society.

Before moving to Columbus, Wait was director of the Pearce Museum, a Civil War and Western art museum at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. She published four volumes of original Civil War letters.

“Notably at every museum she has dramatically improved both visitation and revenue, as well as upgrading their collections and facilities,” reads her obituary.            

Wait is survived by her husband John Wait, a brother and a stepson and stepdaughter.

Holly Wait takes a chisel to the CSS Chattahoochee engines after fire (Terra Mare Conservation)

Here’s what others who knew Wait and participated in programs at the naval museum said about her contributions. Some responses have been edited for brevity:

LAURA DAVIS, assistant professor of history at Columbus (Ga.) State University

Holly Wait was a dedicated and passionate public historian who not only helped guide the National Civil War Naval Museum through COVID-19 and other trying times but was the beating heart of the institution. She helped expand the museum's collection and programming, educating visitors on the importance of naval history. My students always loved visiting with her and I will forever be grateful for the warm welcome she provided me when I first moved to Columbus and shortly thereafter joined the board. Her spirt, determination and energy will be missed.

WILL HOFFMAN, director of conservation and chief conservator at The Mariners’ Museum and Park, which houses USS Monitor

I met Holly in 2016, when she organized the “Wrecks, Recovery & Conservation” symposium at the National Civil War Naval Museum. From my interactions with her over the years, it was clear that she was passionate about her work, museum and goal of ensuring that the stories of Civil War naval sailors will continue to be told. (Picket photo at 2016 program, left)

JAMES WELLBORN, associate professor of history, Georgia College and State University

I only recently had the pleasure of meeting Holly, when she invited me to give a summer lecture in August 2024. Throughout that process and in attending several summer lectures beforehand, Holly was incredibly welcoming and gracious with her time and incredible historical insights and perspectives. Such collegiality and congeniality is the mark of a truly genuine soul. She was a true champion of public history and will be sorely missed, not only at the National Civil War Naval Museum where she did such incredible work but in the broader field of public history. 

MICHAEL K. SHAFFER, Civil War historian and author

Since she joined the museum, I had the privilege of collaborating with her on several lectures I delivered there in Columbus. As a fellow author, Holly shared several valuable resources with me, which I incorporated into my writing. I will deeply miss her. Rest in peace, my dear friend!

The museum has established the Holly B. Wait Endowment Fund to support its mission. You can learn more here.

Sultana Disaster Museum picks director to lead an expanded venue that will add 'wow factor' to story of 1865 steamboat explosion on the Mississippi

The longtime executive director of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis is leaving to oversee the expansion of a museum in Marion, Ark., dedicated to the story of the Sultana maritime disaster that occurred near the end of the Civil War.

The Sultana Historical Preservation Society announced Thursday the hiring of Jeff Kollath, who had been at the Stax museum for nine years and previously worked at historical, veterans and humanities sites in his native Wisconsin.

Kollath (left), who is in his mid-40s, officially starts work as executive director at the Sultana Disaster Museum on July 1, a day after he leaves his current job.

An enticement was an opportunity to build something fresh. Kollath will be deeply involved in devising exhibits for the new location of the Sultana museum.

"As a museum professional, one of my greatest joys has been uncovering, interpreting and telling the stories of everyday people and their extraordinary lives,” Kollath said in a news release. “There are thousands of stories to be told in this new museum. The Sultana disaster is something that still reverberates generations later, and I look forward to working with the board and others in making this important story come alive in our museum for guests of all ages."

The society touted Kollath’s experience in grant writing, budget development, facilities management, public speaking and exhibit development and design. The Memphis museum where he has worked provides a deep look at Stax records, which was instrumental in the development of soul music.

“Jeff expressed to the Board of Directors his passion for making history come alive through high quality exhibitions, immersive educational experiences, and free, accessible programming, and we could not be more excited,” the Sultana board said. Marion is across the Mississippi River from Memphis. 

The society earlier this year awarded a construction contract for a larger, more dynamic museum than the current small one a few blocks away. The venue will be housed in the gymnasium of an old high school, with a couple additions.

Museum acquired this Grand Army of the Republic item remembering brothers who died on boat (SPHS)

Marion, close to where the side-wheeler Sultana exploded and caught fire in the Mississippi River, broke ground in 2022 for the venue, which will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and local residents who helped save others who were plunged into the river in late April 1865. About 1,200 passengers and crew perished. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home.

John Fogleman, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, told the Picket in an email Thursday, "Especially valuable is Jeff's ability to tell compelling stories in a compelling way. Our museum is all about telling the story of the individual soldiers and that is one of Jeff's strengths."

Kollath has been in the museum business for 20 years and has experience in telling the stories of soldiers through his work at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

Pat Mitchell Worley, CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, which overseas the Stax museum, said the museum professional is “a lover of great stories at heart, and Stax and the Sultana, the greatest maritime disaster in America, are both that. He’s getting the chance to create a museum from the ground up, and draw on his passion for research and storytelling with this new opportunity."

Design for the front of larger museum in Marion (Courtesy Sultana Disaster Museum)

Worley said Kollath oversaw a major renovation of the Memphis museum last year for its 20^th anniversary, created a program offering free field trips for all Title One schools in Tennessee and “has been a tireless supporter of free educational programming, curating more than just exhibits, but also having conversations surrounding the story of Stax, how history shaped it then, and continues to do so today.”

Most recently, Kollah was instrumental with the research required to tell the Stax story as part of a recently released HBO docuseries. 

Gene Salecker, Sultana author, collector and museum supporter, previously said he believes the big attraction at the new museum will be a mock-up of the forward part of the Sultana, which will include the steamboat’s boilers.

“Since the boilers were the main cause of the destruction of the Sultana, we are hoping to have a display on how the boilers worked and what went wrong,” he said, describing the overall museum experience as immersive. “We have tons of information and a great number of artifacts to put into each display.”

Museum officials say the exhibits will build off the full story of the Sultana with information about the importance of the river, the Confederate prisoner of war camps at Cahaba and Andersonville, the bribery and corruption that led to the overcrowding of the boat, the explosion and fire, and the creation of the Sultana Survivors Association. (At left, photo of 1891 reunion banner, courtesy of SHPS)

Fogleman said construction at the gymnasium-auditorium has slowed somewhat after the discovery of issues related to water leaks in the roof and elsewhere.

"Before interior work can continue a new roof will be required. Some of this was anticipated but some was not. Since federal grants are involved, it slows the process."

Previous Sultana coverage:

• Documentary, events mark 150th anniversary

• Will victim's journal and Bible become part of collection?

• Descendants drop flowers in memory of the lost

• Model captures every detail of Sultana

• Disaster took lives of those who had endured so much
• Siblings recall learning of disaster