Our board consists of passionate individuals from varied backgrounds, who share in the spirit and vision of this museum. 

Thomas Reidy, PhD

Executive Director

Thomas Reidy received his PhD in History from the University of Alabama and for many years was a popular Lecturer at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Tom currently serves the executive director for the Scottsboro Boys Museum, where he is credited with designing and writing the content for its exhibits.

  • His association with the museum goes back to 2010 and he played a pivotal role lobbying for and writing the Scottsboro Boys Act (AL 2013), a law which allows the state to posthumously pardon convicted felons.

    In addition to his work at the museum, Tom serves on the boards of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Historic Huntsville Foundation, and the Racial Equity Committee for the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville.

    His published works cover both the antebellum period in Alabama and the civil rights movement. He recently edited and wrote the Introduction to The Founding of Alabama: Background and Formative Period in the Great Bend and Madison County (UA PRESS, 2019), which is available in bookstores today.

katherine carroll

Assistant Director

Katherine (Ren) Carroll was born and raised in Fyffe, AL, where she graduated from Fyffe High School. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Auburn University where she interned for Alabama State Council on the Arts and was the Editor-in-chief of the school literary magazine The Auburn Circle.

Taylor maddox

Outreach Coordinator

 Rev. Lasagne (Lacey) Smith 

Board Chair

Lacey’s hometown is Pensacola, Florida and currently resides in Scottsboro.  She has been active in church and community affairs all her life:  as Church secretary, Sunday School teacher and Superintendent, teacher for Evangelistic ministry, and Minister of music. She is employed by The Arc of Jackson County. 

  • Lacey is proudly married to the Rev. Jerry W. Smith, pastor of Bailey Springs (Florence) and Mt. Zion (Muscle Shoals) AMEC churches.  They have five daughters, five grand-daughters and five grand-sons.

    Lacey has been pastoring in the AME church since 2013, where she accepted her 1st pastoral assignment at Bethel Friendship AMEC (Orion, AL).  She currently serves as pastor at Greater St. Paul-Scottsboro and Matthews Chapel-Fackler AME churches.  

    One of her favorite scriptures is, Psalm 91:1 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Loretta Tolliver

Treasurer 

Loretta Tolliver was born in Scottsboro and raised in rural Jackson County. Her parents’ civic engagement inspired her to choose a life of service to others at an early age.

Loretta joined the Scottsboro Boys Museum board in 2010 and is our longest serving member. 

Ginger Brook

Board Member

Ginger Brook is an eighth-generation Alabamian with deep roots in the state's cultural and civic life. She serves on the boards of the Alabama Holocaust Education Center, Hadassah Birmingham, and Temple Emanu-El, and is a grants judge for the Alabama Folklife Association. A member of the Junior League of Huntsville and the 2024 class of Leadership Birmingham, Ginger lives in Birmingham with her two very active teenage sons. 

Jaia chen

Board Member

Jaia Chen was born in China and immigrated to America during her teenage years. She studied art at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and obtained her Master of Fine Arts degree from Ohio State University.

  • Mrs. Chen was among fifty international artists chosen to attend the prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture’s international advanced artist program.

    Mrs. Chen is an artist, curator, and educator. She has lived and worked on three different continents: Europe, America, and Asia. She has worked as an artist, showcased her artwork nationally and internationally, curated art exhibitions, and established an artists’ cultural exchange program. She has taught art for the past twenty years at various educational institutions.

    Since returning to America 17 years ago, Mrs. Chen has been working in the Alabama Community College system. Besides teaching art, Mrs. Chen and her students have engaged, collaborated, and contributed to many creative community projects, such as mural painting for the ARC foundation, teaching art at Arts n’ Autism, and decorating hospital doors during the Christmas season. Recently, she and her art students from Northeast Alabama Community College finished a large-scale chalk mural drawing in Mentone, Alabama, highlighting the bond between NACC the college and the Little River Arts Council. Mrs. Chen wholeheartedly believes that art is a shared language, transcending boundaries between people and cultures. Art can heal and bring people together, and ultimately transform communities.

lydia fielder

Local Tourism and Community Outreach

Lydia Fielder serves as the Executive Director of Tourism for Jackson County, Alabama, where she leads strategic efforts to promote the county as a destination while strengthening quality of place and advancing tourism driven economic development.

  • Her work centers on building partnerships, elevating community assets, and encouraging responsible growth that benefits residents, businesses, and visitors alike.

    Her career has been shaped by work at the intersection of people, place, and opportunity. Before leading tourism efforts, Lydia spent years working in economic development, workforce initiatives, and community based organizations across Alabama and the Northeast, gaining firsthand experience with the challenges and strengths that shape communities. This background informs her work today, using tourism as a tool to strengthen communities and support long term economic opportunity.

    A North Alabama native and University of Alabama graduate, Lydia is motivated by a lifelong commitment to service, collaboration, and creating meaningful, positive impact in the communities she serves.

Dennis fluet

Board Member

Dennis is a farmer in the making and an admirer of the natural landscape of Northeast Alabama and the Greater Chattanooga-Huntsville region, bringing a deep appreciation for place, community, and stewardship to his professional and civic work.

  • His career as a business, brand, and digital strategist has supported small business owners and leading pharmaceutical and entertainment media companies, including The History Channel, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Travel Channel, Animal Planet, Pacira, and others.

    He serves on the boards of three early-stage clinical pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Poland, as well as The Good Life Movement, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending the mental health crisis through public action, awareness, and policy change.

    Civic engagement has been a core value instilled by his parents, and reinforced when he was selected to attend American Legion Boys State, a leadership and citizenship program for promising high school students. He regards his role on the board of the Scottsboro Boys Museum—a cultural institution honoring nine young African American men whose case became a symbol of race-based injustice in the American South—as one of the most consequential commitments of his lifetime.

William Hampton

Acquisitions and Social Media

William H. Hampton is a sixth generation native of Huntsville-Madison County, Alabama. William developed a love of history as a small child listening to the stories shared by great-grandparents, grandparents, and older relatives on what he calls the "Front Porch Experience.” This fascination with stories and history evolved into a lifelong love of history.

  • William serves the community working with the following organizations: executive board member of the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, a class facilitator for LearningQuest, consultant for Huntsville City Schools EarthScope Environmental Development Department, Huntsville Preservation Association, the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society Marker Committee, chairman of the Circle of Remembrance Committee, and the Early Works Children's Museum African-American Advisory Board. William opened the Huntsville Revisited Museum, a local history museum in Huntsville, Alabama in June 2020. William is also a local concert promoter and former record label president of Madison Avenue Records.

Lynda Hodges 

Facilities

Lynda Lynch Hodges was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Scottsboro. She graduated from Scottsboro High School and attended Jacksonville State University. She is a retired Northwest/Delta flight attendant and has been involved with the Scottsboro Boys Museum since 2010.

  • Lynda is a past board member for Big Brother/Big Sisters of Greater Memphis, and a volunteer at St Jude Children's Hospital. Her other volunteer work includes Meals on Wheels (Jackson County), and Christmas Charities. She was an officer of Friends of the Library, and a past president of the Jackson County Medical Alliance.

    The Hodges family is a Founding Family of the Jackson County Heritage Center, and Lynda is a lifetime member of the Jackson County Historical Association and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Lynda is married to Dr. Durwood M. Hodges, a fourth-generation physician who retired last year after 40 years of practicing family medicine.  Dr Hodges’ grandfather, Dr John Rayford Hodges, Sr., founded Hodges Hospital, the first and only hospital between Huntsville and Chattanooga until he helped open Jackson County Hospital, which is known as Highlands Medical Center today. The Hodges are the proud parents of two children. They are avid travelers, enjoy growing herbs, and spending time with their friends and family.

Jaunita Sales Lee

Governance

Juanita is a retired supervisory attorney with the United States Army. Earning a degree in Social Work from the University of Alabama and a law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law, Juanita furthered her legal education with a Master of Laws from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School.

  • Juanita has a diverse work history: Legal Aid Society of Madison County, Al; Private Practice; Alabama A&M University; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and the U.S. Army. She is a member of the Alabama and Georgia Bar Associations, the Alabama Lawyers Association, and the Federal Bar Association.Juanita believes in service to humanity. Her efforts benefit/benefited the Optimist International, Huntsville, AL Club, the Army Heritage Center Foundation, the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association, the Federal Bar Building Corporation, the University of Alabama Law School Foundation, the Museum Committee, Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, U.S. Space and Rocket Center, the American Cancer Society, Madison County, AL, Legal Services Alabama, the Alabama Commission of Higher Education, and the Phenix City/Russell County, AL NAACP.Since retirement, Juanita spends time gardening and traveling with her husband, Joseph.