VOLUNTEERS: Helping Us Better Serve The Community

VOLUNTEER AT THE WENHAM MUSEUM!

The Wenham Museum would not be able to serve our community without the dedicated commitment of our volunteers!

Join a dynamic group of staff, volunteers, and interns who care deeply about the Wenham Museum, its collections, and its role in supporting education about local history and culture.

Dedicated volunteers and interns play a critical part in day-to-day operations of the museum. From collections care to keeping our trains running or supporting school groups and public tours, there are a variety of ways your time and talent can benefit thousands of museum visitors each year. We also welcome student and youth volunteers who are curious about museum work or have community service hours to fulfill.

Students seeking internships should visit our Internships page.  Thank you!

THANK YOU to All Our Volunteers!

The Wenham Museum would not be able to serve our community without the dedicated commitment of our volunteers!

Please see below for upcoming opportunities for high school students to volunteer with our Museum Educator, Margaurita Spear. The volunteer opportunities are:

• Ongoing Daily Gallery Help: We have a need for someone to come in for about 30 minutes at 3:30pm each day to help reset the play interactives in our galleries. Sign up for as many or as few shifts as you are able to help out. Every little bit helps us keep our galleries ready for children and families who visit the next day. The museum is open daily until 4pm, other than Mondays when we are closed.
• Early Release Day Children’s Programs (Wednesday afternoons) and School Vacation Weeks:
  • Assist in a weekly early release day program for Hamilton-Wenham elementary school students. Each week of the month has a different activity: A holiday or seasonal craft day, a board game club, a Lego club, origami, etc. Students take part in the activity and enjoy supervised play time in the museum galleries.
  • Assist with a half-day morning drop-off program for elementary students during February and April vacation weeks. Students enjoy private supervised play time in museum galleries, a planned craft, board games, and attend whichever special vacation week event is scheduled each day.
• Specific Upcoming Events. Assist at one of our special public programs.
  • Saturday, October 19th and Sunday, October 20th: Lego Train Weekend. Sign up for a few hours on one or both days.
  • Saturday, October 26th: Trunk or Treat at Patton Park. Sign up to join us in a themed costume to hand out treats. Time TBD.
  • Saturday, November 2nd: Harry Potter-themed event. Sign up to help with crafts, ticketing, the photo booth, and more. This is an all-day event (10am – 3pm), but you can sign up for a morning or afternoon shift.
  • Friday, December 6th, 5 – 7pm: Grinch PJ Party. Sign up to help with storytelling, a dance party, and more.
  • Saturday, December 7th: Gingerbread Day! Sign up to help with our gingerbread themed events that include cookie decorating and house making. Time TBD.
  • Friday, December 13th, 5 – 7pm: Polar Express PJ Party. Sign up to help with storytelling, crafts, and more.
  • Saturday, December 14th: Holiday Program (TBD) Check back for details.

Volunteer Hours Approval

If you need the museum to approve your volunteer hours, please send the appropriate form or website link to Margaurita Spear, Museum Educator, by e-mail at margaurita.spear[at]wenhammuseum.org.  Thank you!

Last updated:  August 21, 2024

TRAIN GALLERY

Train Gallery volunteers help behind the scenes as well as work directly with visitors. The whole museum is a friendly, supportive, and fun environment, and the Train Gallery is especially popular. All Train volunteers should have a strong interest in trains, real and/or model, be able to work independently, and when in the gallery enjoy interacting with visitors, especially families with children under age 8. Course credit available for college students.

Duties, Qualifications and Skills (flexible hours, weekends are especially desirable, minimum of ½ day (2+ hours) morning or afternoon shift required):
• Knowledge of, or willingness to learn, operating model trains, fixing derailments, swapping equipment, etc.
• Knowledge of repairing engines and rolling stock in various scales helpful, but not required
• Help in maintaining Train Room, i.e. cleaning, dusting, scenery repairs, and general projects

Application:
Send a letter of interest and resume to Rob Flanagan, Train Curator, by e-mail to rob.flanagan[at]wenhammuseum.org.

COLLECTIONS CARE, MANAGEMENT, AND RESEARCH

Collections Volunteers will work with and under the direction of Collections Manager, Samantha Grantham. Times available: make your own hours on MONDAYS from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. or WEDESDAYS from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.  Come try it out! Bring a friend! All training is provided.

Volunteer Opportunities

Model Train cataloging – Using the internet and books, help identify one of our most interesting collections – Model trains and related objects!
Computer skills a great bonus, but this position can also be paper-based. This is a great long-term project as this collection has not yet been cataloged. Be the first in the know as to what exactly we have! Work with the Train Curator and the Collections Manager. This is largely a sit-down project and would benefit a friend to bounce ideas off of. All training provided.

Data Entry – Work with our collections database updating information. All training provided. This position requires good research skills, focused detail-oriented work, and r requires multiple breaks to assure accuracy. Seated work, little to no lifting. This job is important for our visiting researchers, our website, our programs, our Facebook page, etc. Good data entry makes a GREAT experience for the public. Although this volunteer position requires no previous knowledge, previous work in databases is useful. Dolls! Toys! Dollhouses! Historic Objects! Textiles! Make this project work with your interests!

Archives Assistant – As we overhaul the Archives Room and update locations, volunteers are needed to help put like items together and look for duplicates, help make finding guides for boxes or map drawers, cabinets and notebooks. Dust and sweep as needed. This volunteer opportunity requires no previous knowledge about archives but does require bending and lifting of up to 20 pounds, some ladder work, and a sense of humor.

Archival Inventories – This job is tangential to the Archives Assistant job – as this room gets sorted, inventories need to be created for what is in what location – this can be shelf level box level or notebook level. All training provided. This job can be done sitting down and requires limited lifting. Fantastic handwriting or typing skills a must. Attention to detail needed. This job can be done with a friend! Bring a friend! Enjoy sorting through a box while learning about history at the same time!

Photographer – Photograph objects in our collection and attach them to our database. Use our iPad. Easier than you might think! Bring a friend! All training provided.

Don’t see a project that interests you, but have a good idea? Let us know!

Interested in giving it a try? Send an e-mail to Samantha Grantham, Collections Manager at samantha.grantham[at]wenhammuseum.org.

VISITOR SERVICES & MUSEUM SHOP

The Wenham Museum seeks volunteers to join our Visitor Services Team. Our team members greet and assist museum visitors with a focus on providing exceptional, memorable guest experiences. Individuals must enjoy interacting with the public, especially families and children. The Visitor Services team members serve as the first point of contact upon arrival to the museum. As the museum’s ambassadors, our volunteers share important information about programs, exhibitions, and special events to incoming visitors. The team members should demonstrate knowledge of the museum and its collections.  Course credits are available for college internships.

Responsibilities:
Responsibilities include admission, shop, membership, and event sales. Retail and customer service experience is beneficial. Responsibilities also include administratively supporting the Executive, Marketing, and Membership Departments.

Other Qualifications:
Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook software. Comfort using computer, and cash-handling experience. This position would be for at least 4-6 hours a week including possible weekend hours. Flexibility to work additional shifts is essential.

Application:
Send a letter of interest and resume to Amy Curtis, Director of Visitor Experience, at amy.curtis[at]wenhammuseum.org.

PATTON FAMILY ARCHIVES DOCENT/TOUR GUIDE

History lovers can share their passion with visitors as they lead tours through the historic Patton Family Archives, which are located in the Patton Homestead at 650 Asbury Street in Hamilton, Massachusetts.  Training is provided for this enjoyable and interactive position.  To volunteer in this area, please contact Kristin Noon, Executive Director, via e-mail at kristin.noon[at]wenhammuseum.org or phone at (978) 468-2377, ext. 102.

MUSEUM EDUCATION: PUBLIC PROGRAMS, ARTS & CRAFTS, SCHOOL GROUPS

Education Department volunteers help behind the scenes as well as work directly with children, families, and school groups. It is a friendly, supportive, and fun environment! All Education Department volunteers should be able to work independently, have attention to detail, and enjoy being around children. Volunteer hours and course credits available for students.

Behind the Scenes tasks (flexible hours, potential weekend hours available):

• Materials preparation, i.e. cutting paper to specified sizes and sorting art supplies
• Making arts & crafts kits
• Researching information to support curriculum programming

School Groups & Special Events tasks (school groups are weekdays only, however special events can include weekend hours):

• Facilitate and monitor make & take craft tables
• Assist during in-person field trips
• Room set-up & break-down
• Facilitate hands-on activities
• Churning butter, chopping vegetables, grinding spices, making candles
• Take center stage as a teacher/program leader (training and costume provided for this role)
• Dress in colonial costume (training and costume provided for this role)
• Provide in-character information as a person from the 1600s

Early Release Day Children’s Programs (Wednesday afternoons) and School Vacation Weeks:

• Assist in a weekly early release day program for Hamilton-Wenham elementary school students. Each week of the month has a different activity: A holiday or seasonal craft day, a board game club, a Lego club, origami, etc. Students take part in the activity and enjoy supervised play time in the museum galleries.
• Assist with a half-day morning drop-off program for elementary students during February and April vacation weeks. Students enjoy private supervised play time in museum galleries, a planned craft, board games, and attend whichever special vacation week event is scheduled each day.

Family Discovery Gallery Docent tasks (flexible hours, especially on weekends):

• Act as a museum presence in the Family Discovery Gallery
• Maintain the space by putting away toys and materials, and model good “clean-up” and “helper” behavior
• Educate families on the parts of the gallery
• Monitor for rough play or damage to toys and materials
• Facilitate craft activities

Application:
Send a letter of interest and resume to Margaurita Spear, Museum Educator, by e-mail.

EXHIBITIONS INSTALLATION

Exhibitions Department volunteers become an integral part of the Curatorial Team and assist the Exhibitions Curator and Manager in the installation and planning of exhibits. We have an ongoing schedule of changing exhibits (every 2-4 months). It is a very friendly, supportive environment, but installations are physically demanding, so although training is provided, basic skills and physical abilities are required. Two types of exhibit volunteer opportunities are available, but they can overlap depending on skills and interests: exhibit installation and exhibit planning and design. Installations are physically demanding and busy for up to four weeks; planning and design requires less physical work, but also requires good computer skills.

Course credits are available for college internships; interns must be available to work a minimum of 16 hours per week for a at least three consecutive months.

Required duties and skills:

• Painting interior walls
• Comfortable using power tools, including a radial arm saw, circular saw, jigsaw, cordless drill, etc.
• Comfortable standing on 6’ to 8’ tall ladders, step stools, etc. Comfortable lifting 40 lbs. unassisted
• Comfortable squatting, kneeling, bending, stretching, and reaching
• Good written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to work well with others

Desirable qualifications and skills:

• Comfortable using Word or other office programs to write, format, and print labels, text panels, and other text for exhibits
• Comfortable learning to use museum’s collections database, Catalogit, to look up information about objects on display
• Comfortable learning to handle a variety of artifacts, which might include anything from delicate, fragile paper materials to heavy, iron tools

Application:

Send a letter of interest and/or resume to Jane Bowers, Exhibitions Curator & Manager, by e-mail to jane.bowers[at]wenhammuseum.org.

For questions or more information, contact Kristin Noon, Executive Director, via e-mail at kristin.noon[at]wenhammuseum.org or phone at (978) 468-2377, ext. 102.