Part-Time Interpreter for Historic Site

The Washburn-Norlands Living History Center is seeking a paid part-time interpreter for our Spring/Summer school season to be part of the team that brings history to life for visitors, especially school groups and adult tours. Our Interpreters fulfill an important role at Norlands as they interact with both people who are here for the first time and people who are returning to a familiar place. As you walk with our guests around our site you'll be able to share the story of the sons and daughters of the Livermore Washburn family, demonstrate how education was provided in the 1800s in the one room schoolhouse, operate a wood stove for real farmhouse cooking, and/or facilitate tours of the mansion built by the Washburn sons. Sewing, needlework, or farming experience can also be put to good use - we are a living history center! 

Our school seasons run from April until mid-June and September through mid-November, Tuesday through Friday.  There will also be an opportunity to work during our June and July summer season. The position is part-time: 4-hour work days as needed, at a rate of $16 an hour. This is an ideal job for a retiree, educator, homeschool parent, or student.  

Training will take place on-site, where you will start in the audience and advance to shadowing, assisting, and finally leading activities for our guests. Interpreters may also give historical site tours and fill other program functions as needed. We'll provide you a period costume, reading materials, and coaching to learn the craft of presenting an enjoyable learning experience.

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The Washburn-Norlands Living History Center is a non-profit museum dedicated to preserving the heritage and traditions of rural life in Maine’s past, celebrating the achievements of Livermore’s Washburn family, and using living history methods to make values, issues, and activities of the past relevant to present and future generations. The 445-acre property includes working farmland and buildings relating to the site’s role as the 19th-century homestead of the Washburn family. It includes a preserved 1828 Universalist meeting house, the Washburn 1867 mansion with attached farmer’s cottage and barn, an 1883 granite library, a sap-house, and a restored 1853 one-room school house. It contains an extensive trail system.

The Washburn Norlands archive is one of the few private family archives in the country and has been used by prominent historians, including David McCullough and Heather Cox Richardson. The 7 Washburn brothers included 4 congressmen, 2 governors, 2 Ambassadors, a U.S. Senator, a Civil War General, a Civil War Naval Captain, and the founders of Gold Medal and Pillsbury Flour.  There is also a significant Franco-Prussian War and 1870s in Paris collection, a 600-piece Gilded Age couture textiles collection, and a growing natural history collection.

The Norlands is conveniently located in Livermore, Maine, which is 30 minutes from Lewiston/Auburn and Farmington, 45 minutes from Augusta, and an hour from Portland.