Electa Tritsch is a professional research historian who specializes in Massachusetts and New England rural history through her company Oakfield Research. She holds an A.B. in English and American literature from Harvard University, as well as an MA and A.B.D. in American and New England studies with an emphasis on colonial social history, historical archeology, and material culture from Boston University. She is associated with numerous local and state-wide historical societies in southern New England, including the Medfield Historical Society and the Massachusetts Historical Commission. She chairs the regional committee responsible for the Old Manse, a National Historic Landmark in Concord, and is also the former Executive Director of the Dedham Historical Society, a nearby town which originally included Medfield. Tritsch developed a local history curriculum to be taught in the classroom for the Medfield Public School system, which now regularly takes field trips to the Dwight-Derby House and the historical society. She is also the co-author of Building Dedham, published by the Dedham Historical Society in 1986.