Employee Spotlight: Pam Sanfilippo
Welcome to Gateway Arch National Park, Pam Sanfilippo! Sanfilippo is the park’s new Chief of Museum Services & Interpretation. After working for national parks and historic sites across the Midwest, she is proud to be back in her hometown and educate locals and out-of-town visitors about the stories of St. Louis, the city’s role in the westward expansion of the United States and the important civil rights cases that took place in the Old Courthouse.
An alumna of University of Missouri—St. Louis and Washington University, Sanfilippo has had a lifelong passion for history and education. In her new role, she is responsible for directing a complex range of cultural resources, museum and exhibit services, and interpretation programs. Sanfilippo looks forward to leading the implementation of these programs and events to enhance public education about Gateway Arch National Park and its mission.
“I love parks and historic sites as educational institutions,” she said. “Whether it’s through interpretation, programs, education or events, it’s at the heart of what the Park Service does, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Sanfilippo and her husband, Joe, have four grown children and several grandchildren. She enjoys reading, hiking, and exploring museums and historic sites throughout the world. Her favorite themes of the Museum at the Gateway Arch and the Old Courthouse are the stories of women’s suffragist Virginia Minor, and the enslavement case Dred Scott v. Sandford.
Sanfilippo previously served as Director of Learning and Engagement at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home – part of the National Archives and Records Administration – in Abilene, Kansas. Prior to that, she served as Historian and Education Director at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis. Working at historical sites her entire career, Sanfilippo hopes that in her new position, she can help visitors feel like they’re a part of the history national parks have to offer. And as an educator, she can provide ways for visitors to learn about and learn from these stories.
“The opportunity for civic engagement through people coming down and participating in tours and programs in the Arch or the Old Courthouse and getting them involved and finding their own connection in this helps them shape the future of St. Louis,” Sanfilippo said.