The group that leads the effort to preserve Durham’s heritage, our Board of Directors, brings a wide range of knowledge and experiences to Preservation Durham!

Colin Crossman is probably better known as the Innkeeper at The King’s Daughters Inn. The restoration of this luxury bed and breakfast in the Trinity Park neighborhood - a project that he and his wife Deanna personally took on - brought him firmly into the fold of preservation, but his interest in old buildings began well before that. After several years of hanging around Duke graduate programs, which did earn him a law degree, Colin decided to purchase a home in need of rehab in the Walltown neighborhood. His neighbor turned out to be his future wife, and their shared interest for reviving neglected historic homes started a natural partnership that has resulted in the restoration of several homes around Durham, and now the King’s Daughters Inn.

Ruth Dzau came to Durham in 2004, when her husband, Victor J. Dzau, MD, was appointed chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System. Since arriving in the Bull City, Ruth has plunged headlong into volunteerism and become an advocate for a variety of causes. The following are a just a few of the organizations she has worked with as either a member or a board member: Nasher Museum Friends Board, Duke University; Board of Trustees, NC Symphony; Board Chair, Center for Child and Family Health; Board member, Museum Durham History. We are excited that she’ll now be an advocate for PD as well!

Denise Harrison is not new to Durham nor to historic preservation, but she has spent much of the past couple of years in Equatorial Guinea (Africa’s only Spanish-speaking country) heading up a malaria control and prevention project, so we now welcome her back to the Bull City and also welcome her as a new PD board member. Hailing from Detroit, where her love of old buildings and homes began, Denise is now an active participant in the revitalization of East Durham - with one rehab completed and a second underway - and has also contributed to revitalization efforts in Washington, DC, and Chicago. Denise’s dedication to local history (her family has lived in North Carolina since the 1700s), and her back ground in marketing and branding are considered an asset to the organization as we try to forge new connections in the community and to attract new members to join us in our preservation efforts.

Jeff Copeland, PD Treasurer, is an accountant with Nelson and Company, PA. Born at Watts Hospital (1 year before it became the NC School of Science and Math!) and raised in Durham, Jeff and his family have long been a part of the community, and now, he is raising the next generation of Durham Copelands with his 12-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter. While he does not have an extensive background in preservation, Jeff’s lifelong connection to his community is what motivated him to get involved with Preservation Durham. We are excited about the knowledge Jeff brings to PD’s operations (we have books to keep in order too, of course), and we are glad to add a new member to Durham’s preservation community.

Carter Cue is a librarian at the Stanford L. Warren branch of the Durham County Library, and, as such, history is a part of his everyday life. Carter’s interest in historic preservation (for buildings rather than books) began after he attended the National Trust’s annual conference in 1999, and this interest continued to grow after serving a term on the Forsyth County (NC) Historic Resources Commission. Prior to becoming a librarian, Carter worked for the United Methodist Church in several African countries, and this experience gave him certain insights into the function of housing and architecture in human society and the rituals associated with the concepts of home. He has also worked on documentary films, including the ESPN film Black Magic, and, as you might have guessed, he loves to read!

Jane Goodridge is a longtime member of Preservation Durham and has served as volunteer staff for the last couple of years; she has been a Tour Chair, Board member, Treasurer, Vice-President and also served two years as Board President. In other words, Jane is indispensible!

Elizabeth Sappenfield is a native of the Triangle, who grew up in Raleigh and who now calls Durham’s Watts-Hillandale home. Prior to moving back to NC in Nov 2008, she and her husband, Henry, lived in Boston for seven years, where she worked for a non-profit developer who specialized in adaptive reuse projects. Until the fall of 2010, Liz worked for Preservation North Carolina as the Director of Urban Issues - a National Trust for Historic Preservation Partners in the Field position focused on assessing and preventing teardowns, sprawl and urban development in the Raleigh metro area. She left this position shortly before the arrival of their first child - a happy, healthy little boy - in order to spend some time at home with him for a while. Liz is excited about the opportunity to volunteer with Preservation Durham and to stay involved in the preservation community during this career interlude.

Walker Teele is Vice President, Group Account Director of McKinney. He is originally from Morganton, NC where he grew up in an 1897 Victorian home. He has held various positions at advertising firms including Saatchi & Saatchi, and Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners in New York, London, and Warsaw. He lives in a historic home in Trinity Park with his wife, Katherine, and two daughters. Walker is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill.

John White has served as the Director of Public Policy for the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce since January of 2009. In this role, John is responsible for creating and managing government relations plans on local, state and federal levels, as well as for advocating on behalf of the Chamber and its members to ensure that policies and legislation are conducive to a positive and successful business environment. Considering the importance of Preservation Durham’s relationship with local government, John is a good person to have on our side. He previously served as Community Director for GenerationEngage – a small non-partisan, non-profit organization that focuses on civic engagement – and as a Legislative Assistant to Guilford County, NC Representative Alma Adams. John hails from Greensboro and is a 2005 graduate of NCCUwith a degree in Political Science.