Ruth & Hartley Barker Director and CEO
Wisconsin Historical Society
Christian Øverland is the Ruth and Hartley Barker Director and CEO of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Under his leadership, WHS has garnered public support for a new, five-story, 100,000-square-foot building that will replace the current Wisconsin Historical Museum located on the Capitol square in Madison. Construction is underway on the new facility, which is expected to open in 2027. Previously, Øverland held leadership and administrative roles at The Henry Ford, a history museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Øverland is also a member of the Governor’s Council on Tourism in Wisconsin.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of Minnesota; master’s, Cooperstown Graduate Program at State University of New York
If you could time travel: “November 19, 1863, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I would like to have stood with my great, great grandmother listening to President Lincoln read his Gettysburg Address and then have a conversation with her about my great, great grandfather.”
Favorite Wisconsin destination: “Every Wisconsin waterfall.”
First and most recent concert: “My first concert was Led Zeppelin, and my most recent was a Milwaukee Summerfest ‘twofer’ with James Taylor and Sheryl Crow.”
Historical figure you look up to: “Maya Angelou, American poet. She inspired people to understand each other with an innate ability to view events and situations from many perspectives and then create beauty and call to action with her words from many voices, such as ‘On the Pulse of Morning.’”
