The Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore is seeking its next Ethel “Billie” Gammon Fellow to join its summer staff. College students and graduating high school seniors enrolled in a college starting this fall are welcome to apply. The selected individual is a member of Norlands summer staff team and receives a $1,500 stipend that can be used towards education expenses. The Summer Fellow gains valuable experience in living history education, museum operations, and other topics that may relate to his/her interests. This professional development opportunity is designed to honor Norlands founder’s endless enthusiasm for sharing American History using living history methods. Applications are due by May 1, 2020. The application form may be found on Norlands' website at https://norlands.org/internships-at-norlands.html or by emailing norlands@norlands.org.
Candidates must complete an application form and submit an essay of 750-1000 words describing what inspires them about Norlands and their goals for being named a Billie Gammon Fellow. Applicants must describe how their experience at Norlands will help them with their college/career pursuits. Applicants do not necessarily have to major in history or teaching. One letter of recommendation is also required. Final candidates will be invited for interviews in early May.
To receive the full award, the fellow is expected to work for the Norlands for 90 hours (approximately two days/10 hours per week) during mid-June through August. The fellow’s primary role is to assist with tours of the Washburn family mansion and other historic buildings on site and help in the gift shop during open tour days. The fellow also has the opportunity to work on a project of interest such as conducting research, writing a grant application, inventorying or digitizing the museum’s archives, creating a social media plan, or planning an event. The fellow will round out his/her experience by sharing a summary of their project with Norlands key staff and volunteers. The Billie Gammon Fellowship is an advantageous training opportunity designed to give students the chance to tailor a project to his/her interests and broaden their horizons while learning new skills, all while experiencing the joy and magic of Norlands.
For more information, visit www.norlands.org, email norlands@norlands.org, or call 207-897-4366.
ABOUT THE ETHEL “BILLIE” GAMMON HISTORY EDUCATION AWARD
In 2010, on the first anniversary of Billie’s passing, the Norlands Board of Trustees established the Ethel “Billie” Gammon History Education Fund to honor her bottomless enthusiasm for sharing American History by providing support in her name for "learning through fun." In 1954, Billie started her work at the Norlands with the restoration of the library and went on to develop a world-renowned museum education program based on living history methods. She believed that through real-life experiences in the past, children and families would come to appreciate the everyday struggles of the people who lived in the late 1800s in rural Maine. She took great joy in seeing visitors to the living history museum that she founded "get it" – that history education could be fun and that lessons from rural life in the 19th century are timeless; to feel what it was like to sit on the hard school benches, to know the day started and ended with family chores and responsibilities, and to understand the rural Maine philosophy of everyone pulling together.
ABOUT THE NORLANDS
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 400-acre property is comprised of a preserved 1828 Universalist meeting house, the Washburn’s 1867 mansion with attached farmer’s cottage and barn, an 1883 granite library, a saphouse, and a restored 1853 one-room school house. Maine school children continue to visit Norlands today as part of the Maine history curriculum.
