Dolly PerkinsResearcher, 2014–Present

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Dolly is involved in researching the musical events that William and his family attended. She has developed a standard template for displaying information about the concerts and operas the conductor, the performers, the program, advertisements and announcements, reviews and notes of particular interest. As well as doing her own research, she integrates the work that other researchers have done over the years to develop as complete a picture as possible of the musical events.

William attended musical events frequently, until later in his life when other activities made demands on his time. He was a musician himself, singing with the German Liederkranz society on public and private occasions, and serving for periods of time as the societys president. He befriended musicians, often helping them out financially when times were hard.

Dolly is a native of Easthampton, Massachusetts. She graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Mathematics. She then spent three years in the Peace Corps in West Africa. Her subsequent career was spent working for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, from which she retired as the Deputy Center Director-Technical. She continues to perform consulting work for NASA and NOAA. She also has deep interest in fiber arts. In particular, she is an avid amateur tapestry weaver, knitter, and crocheter, and occasional embroiderer. She was involved in the Smithsonians Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project from its beginning, and served as a docent for the life of the project. Dolly is also an amateur piano player and owns a Steinway piano. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband Larry Novak, a volunteer in the Department of Electricity at the NMAH