Meet YOur Tour Guides
William Deardoff
William Deardoff is a veteran educator of 25 years with Omaha Public Schools and is presently teaching in Bennington Public Schools. His Bachelor and Masters degrees are from UNO, where his love of Omaha History was influenced by his teachers Orville Menard, Harl Dahlstrom and Charles Gildersleeve. He has been involved with Omaha history projects for years. At OPS he developed and taught an Omaha History class with Pat Ryan. His love for sharing Omaha history has lead him to give numerous tours around Omaha to groups ranging from grade school age to college to adult groups. Deardoff leads our popular Last Call for Alcohol: Omaha’s Bootlegging History tour.
jean and lee johnson
Retired teacher and UNL graduate, Jean Johnson has been volunteering her talents at The Durham Museum since 1991. She is a long-time museum docent and her signature tour, From Expositions to Jazz Musicians, is an outgrowth of the museum’s Building our City tour, which highlights the incredible history of the Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition, as well as surrounding neighborhoods including Historic North 24th Street. Jean also has a passion for art and leads our guided museum tours and teaches visitors about the art deco architecture of Union Station. Jean teams up with her husband Lee Johnson for Parks and Boulevards, which explores the beautiful parks and boulevard system Omaha began developing in the late 1800s. Lee is also a UNL grad with an advanced degree from UNO. After nine years in education, he partnered a start-up third party administration firm for self-funded health plans. Now fully retired, Lee has watched Jean enjoy her tours and decided to join the fun. His memories for the building as a train depot, with its crowds, sights and sounds, go back to the early 1950s when his grandparents arrived by train from St. Louis.
MONICA GOMEZ
Monica Gomez is a bilingual museum educator from Omaha who has a deep passion for art, language and culture. Her love of history coincidentally blossomed in the high school classroom of William Deardoff. Monica went on to earn her Bachelor’s in Art History from Creighton University and a Master’s in the Professional Studies of Art History from Towson University. Her areas of expertise include museum pedagogy, object-based learning, material culture, Egyptology, 20th-century art, the Mexican Renaissance and architecture. She previously worked as a museum educator at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the DAR Museum in Washington D.C. Above all, Monica is a storyteller with a keen eye for the dynamic stories objects, people and spaces have to tell. Monica leads the Remember the Ladies! The Women of Early Omaha tours. Be sure to ask her about the Art Deco style, and the Abbott Sisters.
KYLE CHATTLETON
Kyle Chattleton is a public historian who manages The Durham Museum’s public and volunteer programming. Originally from Southern California, Kyle graduated from Chapman University before studying the history of local protests and sounds in Charlottesville and at the University of Virginia, where he earned his PhD in 2022. Prior to working at The Durham Museum, he led over 2,000 tours for over 30,000 visitors at Monticello, the historic home and plantation of Thomas Jefferson. Kyle leads the Gritty City and Omaha, Center of the Nation tours.
TROY STOLP
A practicing historian and father of three children, Troy Stolp was born in Omaha and grew up in Council Bluffs. He graduated from Lewis Central High School in 1990 and afterward obtained a BA in Anthropology and Religious Studies from Iowa State University, a BA in History from Buena Vista University, and an MA in History from UNO. He has worked in human services in various capacities since 1994 and has been at Lewis Central Schools since 2013 (where he is also the chess coach). Troy has been on the Board of Directors for Preserve Council Bluffs, a judge for National History Day and is happy to have served on the Council Bluffs Historic Preservation Commission. Troy leads the Downtown Omaha Walking Tours and can be spotted at many of The Durham Museum’s other educational programs.
