About the Zadock Pratt Museum

The Zadock Pratt Museum (Prattsville, NY) is located in the western Catskills mountaintop region—an area with a storied history of emerging times and ideas including the birthplace of color photography and the site of the world’s oldest fossils. With the life and legacy of Zadock Pratt at its core, the museum is dedicated to excavating local history, community, and culture through special and permanent exhibits, conservation, education, archives, and public programming.

Vision & Mission

Through our service, space, and programming, we create equitable futures where every being can thrive. We are building a transformative educational, historic, and cultural hub in the spirit of Zadock Pratt—a shining star on the mountaintop that champions land, people, communities, and ideas. Our mission is to excavate, elevate, and share the rich histories and cultures of Prattsville and the greater tri-county Catskills region. With the life and legacy of Zadock Pratt at our core, we aim to:

  • Be a critical beacon of local research and education

  • Serve and preserve through community-minded programming, events, and encounters that tell expansive stories

  • Contextualize and cultivate ideas that matter 

Our History

Built in 1828 and redesigned in the 1850’s, the building is the 19th century Greek Revival home of visionary Congressman, banker, soldier, industrial revolution innovator, and town founder Zadock Pratt. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. The Pratt Homestead, now the Zadock Pratt Museum was built in 1828 and restored as a museum in 1976.

The Museum has been in existence as a museum since 1959, functioning in a variety of settings until the Zadock Pratt Homestead located on Main Street, Prattsville, was acquired in 1962 by a group of dedicated local residents. Operated by local volunteers, including the then Prattsville Chamber of Commerce, this group re-organized in 1974 to restore the Pratt homestead.

With support from the town of Prattsville and the O’Connor Foundation, the building was restored, collections moved, and the museum opened on July 4, 1976. The Museum’s first full-time professional director was hired shortly after the restoration.

It was restored to its approximate 1856 appearance. The Museum contains approximately 5,000 sq. ft. dedicated to period room settings, exhibit areas, a research room and a caretaker’s apartment. A modern replica of Pratt’s carriage house was built to house meeting, store and office facilities. It is also used by other community groups for meeting purposes.

Board of Directors

Stephen H. Birnbaum, President 

Stephen Birnbaum was elected President in early 2025. After growing up in Prattsville in the mid 1970’s and retiring from an almost 40-year career in Commercial Banking in 2022 as an Executive Vice President, he and his wife, Lisa, returned to Prattsville. Education included an AOS degree from SUNY Cobleskill, a BS from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA, and finishing up at the University of New Orleans with an MBA in 1985. Volunteer Board roles included Lighthouse for the Blind in New Orleans, Big Brothers and Big Sisters in New Orleans, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Houston, TX. He is a second-generation Board Member and Volunteer, as his mother (Grace Birnbaum) served the museum up until her passing in 2002.

Charlotte Hallberg, Secretary

Charlotte Hallberg is an artist, educator, and mother who has lived in Prattsville with her small family since 2019. She holds an MFA from Yale University and a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. With additional experience in museum education and arts programming, she is excited to continue the tradition of sharing town history with lifelong residents and newcomers alike while creatively exploring connections between the past and the present.

Tony Bluestone

Tony Bluestone (b. Englewood, New Jersey) was raised amongst activists from whom he learned that life is at its best when we show up for each other. Tony loves his friends and community, and his work is interested in how we can create and form space for different types of lived existence. He believes these communally shared realities are what allow him to exist as a gender fluid trans masculine person. Trans is both a verb and a noun in his life, and his work seeks to transcend accepted reality, which includes but is not limited to gender, living/dying, communication, and travel. Bluestone received an MFA from Hunter College and has been a resident at The Shandanken Project in Shandanken, NY; The Basil Alakazi Residency in Detroit, MI; DNA Residency in Provincetown, MA; and The Prattsville Art Center in Prattsville, NY. He has had solo shows at Freight & Volume Gallery in NYC; the Elaine L Jacob Gallery at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI; and Larrie Gallery, NYC; as well as a two-person show at La Mama Gallery, NYC. He has an upcoming solo show at Azulejo Gallery in Seoul, Korea. He has had work in group shows at Rachel Uffner, The Academy of Arts and Letters, the New School, Platform Project Space, White Columns, and has work in an upcoming show at Night Gallery. He has also performed written works at Storm King Art Center. In 2017, he was awarded the John Koch Award by the Academy of Arts and Letters. Bluestone currently teaches painting at Cooper Union and Hunter College.

Donna Marie Schien

Donna Schien started in the travel business over 30 years ago. She comes to the Zadock Pratt museum with a vast array of travel experiences. In 1998, she started her career as the Lead Travel Counselor at American Express Travel. Here, she provided travel services for both international and domestic travel for many Fortune 500 companies. After she moved with her family to Round Top, NY, in Greene County, in 1999. She started working for Yankee Trails World Travel, where she launched the travel division. She set up group and leisure air travel for Yankee Trails’ customer base of over 100,00 people in the Capital Region of NYS.

In 2008, she started working for Wade Tours in Schenectady, NY. There she changed her profession to motorcoach tours and was the Tour Coordinator for all One Day and Multi-day Motorcoach tours. Here, she created and managed the marketing for a 15-page brochure which was published 4 times a year and mailed to over 200,00 people in the Capital Region of New York, promoting one-day and multi-day tours to East Coast destinations and beyond. She oversaw the Tour Escorts, where she did the scheduling and all the training to improve the tour experience.

In 2025, she was graciously invited to be a member of the Zadok Pratt Museum board. There, she plans to bring her knowledge of the tour business, and her focus will be on the entire visitor’s experience at the museum.

Patrick McGuinn

Patrick McGuinn is a filmmaker and artist who loves nature. His work reflects an appreciation of the great outdoors, bodies of water, outer space, and unconditional love. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from NYU Film School and currently plays in a rock band.

Marci Hunt LeBrun

Marci Hunt LeBrun has been a full-time resident of Prattsville since 2020 and brings a background of photography, graphic design, and museum collection management to the board. She has been actively involved with the museum since 2024, when she first redesigned the museum’s website and participated in the curation, exhibition design, and marketing of the exhibitions Who’s Folk and Leather and Plastic. She is currently training as a couples and family therapist and is thrilled to be serving the local community in this new capacity.