Jean Ashton
Jean Ashton is currently senior director for research and programs at the New-York Historical Society and curator of AIDS in New York: The First Five Years. Ashton holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, as well as degrees from Michigan, Harvard, and Rutgers. In 2012, she retired as head of the Library of the New-York Historical Society, where she was responsible for a variety of publications and exhibitions on historical subjects including New York’s ratification of the constitution, Hudson River School authors, and the invention of Santa Claus. She was curator of Be Sure! Be Safe! Get Vaccinated!, Smallpox, Vaccination, and Civil Liberties in New York and co-curator of Breakthrough: The Dramatic Story of the Discovery of Insulin.