About the Wells Fargo - Guided By History Blog

Allan Peterson

Allan has been a curator with Wells Fargo in San Diego for more than a decade. After a career as a public school teacher, Allan received his master's degree in History from San Diego State in 2001 and currently teaches U.S History at San Diego City College. He spends his free time with his wife, Janet, and their menagerie of dogs, birds, fish, reptiles and teenagers.

Amanda Koehler

Amanda Koehler, née Hopper, has been a phenomenal interpreter at the Old Sacramento History Museum since 2007. She enjoys giving tours and sharing Wells Fargo's history with all the visitors to Old Sacramento.

Amanda Walters

Amanda Walters is a Museum Assistant at the Wells Fargo History Museum in Phoenix. She has been with the Museum since 2006. Amanda is an avid lover of sports, animals and of course all things history!

Anna Lucas Mayer

Anna is an archivist in the Wells Fargo & Company Corporate Archives, the core corporate memory of Wells Fargo and all its subsidiaries, affiliates, and merger partners from origins to the present. Anna cares for items ranging from stagecoach robbery reward posters to board minutes and promotional paper mustaches from the 1970s.

Anne Hall

Anne began her professional connection to Wells Fargo in 1997. She transitioned from intern to contractor to curator, then interpreting Wells Fargo history in a way that makes it meaningful to the audience. She received her MLIS from San Jose State in 2005, and finally admits that she is a true librarian at heart and, of course, in sensible shoe choices. Anne is passionate about encouraging people to value and preserve their own family stories.

Beverly Smith

Bev started out as a high school history teacher in Los Angeles and segued into museum education in the 80s at the Wells Fargo History Museum. She now gets to lead all nine of Wells Fargo's museums and the Stagecoach Appearance Program, and stays connected with the larger museum profession as a board member for the California Association of Museums.

Bill Taylor

Before Bill Taylor joined the History team as an interpreter in January 2008, he had already worked for Wells Fargo as a Learning and Development Consultant! Bill graduated from Montana State University  (Class of '02) with degrees in Art and History education, subjects he then taught in junior high and high school.. No surprise then that he enjoys sharing Wells Fargo's rich history with museum visitors — especially the student tours. When he's not working, Bill spends most of his time caring for his family, including two young boys who are quickly gaining an appreciation for history!

Bob Chandler

Bob was with Wells Fargo over 30 years before retiring — he's almost an artifact himself. He has written several articles about the company and currently has a book out with the distinguished title Wells Fargo. He suffers boldly from bibliomania, has a fondness for wearing red shirts, and is often found with his wife, Susan, at paper shows.

Casey Gill

Casey has been a curator for Wells Fargo in San Diego since 2004. He is a Navy vet who has since earned a B.A. in History/ Political Science from UC San Diego and a teaching credential. Casey has a reputation as a “master storyteller” through his work with the fourth grade Old Town School Program  and conducts quarterly lectures at UCSD’s English Language Institute . He loves history and politics and spends most of his off time with his guitar, two Boston terriers and two guinea pigs.

Charles Riggs

Charles’s chief duties for Wells Fargo are web development and coordinating historical blogs. After hours, he listens to old LPs, bicycles a couple hundred miles a month, and watches way too many hours of sports on TV.

Christy Horton

Christy has worked in the Wells Fargo Corporate Archives since 2000. She holds a BA in History, an M.A. in Museum Studies and is a Certified Archivist . Christy admits to being a true history geek at heart. In her free time, she enjoys art, dancing, reading and hanging with her husband and kitty.

Cris Sanchez

Since beginning his career with Wells Fargo Bank in 2006, as part of the “Big and Mighty” Los Angeles Metropolitan Division, Cris Sanchez has had the pleasure of studying Fine Art, most recently with Santa Monica College. Today, Cris finds himself in Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco, interpreting Wells Fargo History for museum visitors, and doing research for writing projects.

Glen Myers

Glen is the manager of Wells Fargo’s San Francisco History Museum, after having been a museum interpreter and curator for many years. He earned an M.A. in Museum Studies, and has had experience in antique restoration, graphic design and fine arts. He spends his spare time hiking, kayaking, and endless home remodel projects.

Ileana Bonilla

Ileana has been working for Wells Fargo since 2004. She started as a docent at Wells Fargo's Old Town San Diego museum, and has been the Assistant Curator at the Los Angeles museum since late 2005. She has a B.A. in History from UC San Diego and has previously worked for the National Park Service. Probably the only Historical Services employee who thoroughly enjoys dressing up in costume, Ileana likes anything history-related, making jewelry, cooking, reading, and laughing.

Jane Po

A certified nerd who cooks, plays pipe organ, worships English djs, and reads Ferdinand Braudel with the same passion she gives to her copies of US Weekly.

John Poyser

A graphic designer obsessed with all things San Francisco and all things relating to the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. His family moved to San Francisco in 1867. Their stories are what started this obsession.

John Stumpf

John Stumpf was named Chief Executive Officer of Wells Fargo & Company in June 2007, and has served as President since August 2005. A 26-year veteran of the company, he joined the former Norwest Corporation in 1982 as senior vice president and chief credit officer for Norwest Bank, N.A., Minneapolis.

He serves on the Board of Directors for The Clearing House , the Bay Area chapter of Junior Achievement , as well as The Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota . He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art  and is a member of the California Business Roundtable.

Joycee Wong

Joycee Wong is Curator at the Wells Fargo History Museum in San Francisco. Her enthusiasm for visitors, for tours and for our history is one of our greatest treasures. When she's not sharing history and cultural connections with others, Joycee loves exploring not only nature’s beauty by hiking and kayaking, but also inner landscapes through yoga and meditation.

Marianne Babal

Marianne has been aboard the stagecoach for 12 years as a corporate historian. Earlier, she worked for the National Park Service and as a consultant in preservation and cultural resource projects. When not bicycling through the hills of Marin County, California, she also serves on the board of her hometown historical society in Mill Valley.

Martha Blakney

Martha Blakney has worked as an Express Agent at the Wells Fargo History Museum in Old Sacramento since December of 1999, after 18 years as an insurance agent. Her knowledge of the Sacramento region comes from living here her whole life, as well as raising her family here.

Megan Schaack

Megan made the switch from local to corporate history in 2004 when she became the curator of the Wells Fargo History Museum in Minneapolis. Working at a museum in the skyway allows Megan to interact with a variety of Midwest visitors—students, tourists and Wells Fargo Team Members—and show them a history that many aren't familiar with. She keeps herself and her staff going with regular doses of dark chocolate.

Melissa Friedmann

Melissa is an interpreter at the Wells Fargo History Museum in Minneapolis. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2004 with a B.F.A. in classical theater and a minor in history. In addition to working in the museum, Melissa is a professional actress in both theater and film. She is excited to research and explore the roles women of different ethnicities played in the expansion of the West.

Michael Shanahan

Michael Shanahan has spent most of the past twenty years working for Wells Fargo Historical Services in one capacity or another. He currently manages the Wells Fargo Museums in Sacramento, Calif.

Phyllis Thorne

Phyllis became the Assistant Curator for the Wells Fargo History Museum in Minneapolis in 2006. She has degrees in Theatre and History Education, which makes her entirely suited to tell the story of Wells Fargo’s history to students of all ages. Phyllis also is the Company Manager for Commedia Beauregard , a small theater company in St Paul.

Ryan Baum

Ryan Baum has been with Wells Fargo 20 years and is part of Wells Fargo International’s Global Expansion Initiative. He holds a B.A. in Economics/Business from UCLA and an M.S. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon. His interest in business started with coin collecting at the age of five followed by annual school reports on the California Gold Rush. He has been a US Navy Reserve Supply Corps Officer since 2002 and is a member of Wells Fargo's Military Veterans Resource Group

Sharon Robinson

Sharon is the manager of the Charlotte museum and has a M.A. in Museum Studies/Historic Preservation. A native of Western North Carolina, Sharon LOVES her State, and is proud to be from Southern Appalachia. She has told her husband that at her funeral she wants to be remembered for her sense of humor and not much else. As a Park Ranger, Sharon was a living history farm manager and learned how to drive tractors, backhoes, and a stick shift (those poor park trucks will never be the same). She prefers biscuits to bagels, but having grown up in a house of Northern transplants has never quite gained taste buds for the southern delicacy of ALL things fried—nevertheless don’t stand between her and a fried pickle. Sharon is easily bored and, much to the annoyance of her coworkers, is always fidgeting and trying to rope them in to something she thinks will be funny.

Steve Greenwood

Steve has worked at the Wells Fargo History Exhibit in Portland, Ore., since 2004. He combines his background in history and education with the goal of making history fun and relevant to audiences of all ages. When Steve is not engrossed in history, he is probably hiking or camping somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

Sue Choate

Sue has been with Wachovia since 1971, working in Personnel, Public Relations, Marketing, and as editorial assistant and editor of Wachovia’s corporate magazine. One of her most interesting assignments was organizing Wachovia’s corporate archives in 1989. When not cataloging historical documents and tracking down decades’ old information, she enjoys reading, snow skiing, traveling, and her family – including five grandsons – and her little Yorkie.

Terry Keir

Terry is an interpreter at the Wells Fargo History Museum in Minneapolis. Before he came to Wells Fargo, he taught for 32 years in the Minneapolis Public School system — the last 14 teaching AP United States History. Terry says working in the museum allows him to continue his love of history and teaching. When not working, Terry enjoys reading, biking, travel, and watching soccer and baseball.

Trudy Cox

A native North Carolinian, Trudy grew up in the same town as country music star Randy Travis . After graduating from Pfeiffer University , she worked as an English teacher before joining Wachovia as part-time Archivist in 1993. She also serves as the Communications Chair at Kingswood United Methodist Church in Rural Hall, NC. Trudy loves her family and friends, Women of Faith  conferences, Jan Karon  books, interior design, and preserving and sharing Wachovia's rich history.

Wayne Thompson

Wayne is a Wells Fargo Communications Consultant based in Winston-Salem, N.C. Since joining the company in 1998 from the Wake Forest University News Bureau (where he learned tolerance, since he's a UNC grad), the former newsman has held a variety of positions. These include managing an "extranet" site for Wachovia's board of directors and writing/editing for newsletters, intranets, magazines, TV — and now — this blog. When he's not looking for great stories with notebook and camera, you can find Wayne burning up the roads of North Carolina with his wife to cheer on their twin girls' sports teams, producing a monthly eNewsletter for his church or trying hard to shoot his age for nine holes in golf.