Hearthstone is always looking for bright, energetic people to join our team. Please check out the current opportunities listed below.

The museum is only successful when its team reflects the diversity of those they engage. The museum encourages individuals from traditionally marginalized communities, including ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American) and LGBTQQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual) communities, as well as those who are non-neurotypical, to volunteer and to apply for internships and employment.

Please view the museum’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Policy.

Employment

Social Media Coordinator (Work-Study Position)

Please review this summary of the part-time position.

Internships

All internships at Hearthstone are conducted under the museum’s Career Choice Program. Using Hearthstone Historic House Museum as a vehicle, CCP provides a rich breadth of experience to college students or recent graduates that imparts the following:

- Sufficient understanding of museum operations to consider and evaluate a career in public history, museums, and in non-profit and for-profit organizations.

- Meaningful, hands-on experience in a real-world environment to gain a thorough appreciation of skills/work required for the field.

- New, market-valued skills that will increase hire-ability and likelihood of graduate school admission.

Students participating in CCP may have the opportunity to receive class credits with advisor approval and per school procedures and requirements.

Three on-going internship opportunities are listed below. Please note that all internships listed below are:

Part time, unpaid.

For recent graduates or those currently enrolled in Bachelor's degree programs in museum studies, public history, history, retail, or as listed below.

New - Cleaning Procedures Intern

The topic may seem mundane. However, cleaning is essential to the preservation of a collection and becoming an expert in cleaning procedures is a skill set that is invaluable to future employers.

Intern will research and write instructions for volunteers and staff for our annual top-to-bottom cleaning of Hearthstone. These procedures will then be used for all future January cleaning projects.

Overview

Research the types of materials that exist inside Hearthstone and the specific properties of each.
Use Manual of Housekeeping and Historic Preservation and other published resources to determine the best way to clean each material.
Consult organizations like AAM (aam-us.org), AASLH (aaslh.org), Canadian Conservation Institute (Technical Bulletins) (https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute.html), National Park Service (Conserve-O-Grams and Museum Handbook)(https://www.nps.gov/subjects/museums/conserve-o-grams.htm), Conserv (https://conserv.io/), The Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (https://ccaha.org/), and the American Institute for Conservation (https://www.culturalheritage.org/home). Explore their websites, sign up for their newsletters, reach out to people if you have questions.
Develop a cleaning schedule for how often each item or material should be cleaned. Not everything needs to be cleaned yearly, and some things should be cleaned more often.
Write detailed instructions (by room) for the annual January deep clean. Include methods and supplies.
Learn about the science and chemistry behind the methods and materials you recommend (as well as what happens when things aren’t cleaned) so you can teach the staff and volunteers.
The final product will be used by staff and volunteers as the gold standard for maintaining Hearthstone for years to come.

New - Museum Shop Intern

Museum shops are an often untapped source of earned revenue that is essential to the financial wellbeing of an institution. This position offers development of an essential skill set for a job seeker in the retail or non-profit fields.

Intern will set up procedures for acquiring stock for the museum’s small but profitable Gift Shop, including a schedule of when to make purchases and where to source items. The end product will be used by volunteers and staff to keep the shop running smoothly and fully stocked.

Research similar museum shops to see what products they sell and what sells well. (Historic homes, Appleton museums, history museums, etc.)
Use the resources provided at aam-us.org (https://www.aam-us.org/2023/11/08/the-future-of-the-museum-store/, https://www.museumstoreassociation.org/, https://www.aaslh.org/, etc.) and review into any books on museum shops that Hearthstone has in its resource library.
Adhere to the museum’s mission for all items in the shop.
Look into existing vendors, as well as sourcing new vendors.
Determine the lowest wholesale price and set marked up selling prices.
Write procedures for acquiring resale stock like jewelry and other vintage items. Determine the most cost-efficient way to do so.
Wotking with the bookkeeper, devise a database or spreadsheet for inventory that is easy to maintain and follow for the volunteers and staff who have little or no experience in retail. Devise a way to alert people when stock is low or write up a schedule for checking stock including seasonal items.
Work with the Square POS system to input items and prices that are logical and simple to understand for greeters and other volunteers and staff.
Look for new, exciting, and enticing items to sell.
Organize the shop and shop storage so things are easily found by both visitors and staff/volunteers.

Curator and Executive Director will review the final product for feasibility and comportment with Hearthstone’s mission and budget.

Curation Intern

There are a limited number of openings each session to do valuable work with Hearthstone’s collections gain in essential skills required by all museums and similar institutions.

Overview

Duties center on interacting with artifacts in the collections including research and cataloguing.
The internship is part of the museum’s Career Choice Program which provides a rich breadth of experience to college students or recent graduates based on meaningful, hands-on work in a real-world environment. Students participating in CCP internships may have the opportunity to receive college credits.
Flexible commitment but typically 5-15 hours per week in one of three four-month sessions (Fall, Spring, Summer).

For additional information or to apply, please contact or send resume to Lynne Phillips, Curation Director at lphillips@hearthstonemuseum.org with subject line Curation Intern.

Volunteer Coordinator Intern

This is an exciting opportunity for college students or recent graduates looking to gain hands-on, real-world experience as a valued part of a non-profit organization.

Overview:

Part time, unpaid.
For recent graduates or those currently enrolled in Bachelor's or Associate’s degree programs in human resources or related field.
Duties center on interacting with our volunteers and helping develop/implement volunteer programs for a variety of audiences.
The internship is part of the museum’s Career Choice Program which provides a rich breadth of experience to college students or recent graduates based on meaningful, hands-on work in a real-world environment. Students participating in CCP internships may have the opportunity to receive college credits.
Flexible commitment but typically 5-15 hours per week in one of three four-month sessions (Fall, Spring, Summer).

For additional information or to apply, please contact or send resume to George Schroeder, Executive Director, at gschroeder@hearthstonemuseum.org with subject line Volunteer Coordinator Intern.

Event Coordinator Intern

This is a varied and fast-paced opportunity for college students or recent graduates looking to gain hands-on, real-world experience as a valued part of a non-profit organization.

Overview

Duties include planning and executing a variety of events for the public, members, and donors including theatrical performances, open houses, catered events including weddings, presentations, and speaker evenings all at the museum.
The internship is part of the museum’s Career Choice Program which provides a rich breadth of experience to college students or recent graduates based on meaningful, hands-on work in a real-world environment. Students participating in CCP internships may have the opportunity to receive college credits.
Flexible commitment but typically 5-15 hours per week in one of three four-month sessions (Fall, Spring, Summer).

For additional information or to apply, please contact or send resume to George Schroeder, Executive Director, at gschroeder@hearthstonemuseum.org with subject line Event Coordinator Intern.

Volunteer Opportunities

Hearthstone Historic House Museum could be the perfect place to volunteer. This is particularly true if you love history, especially the history of technology, or Appleton, or Victorian life, or architecture, interior design, music, art, vintage clothing, gardening, working with your hands on projects, or simply enjoy being with fun, dedicated people of all ages. The museum's volunteer opportunities cover almost every aspect of the museum’s operations. Volunteering is a more relaxed way of helping at Hearthstone versus employment or internships.

In general, the museum would welcome your help in any way you find interesting and rewarding. Whatever you like to do is probably something we need help with.

Examples of volunteer opportunities include:

Interacting with guests from all around the world by serving as a greeter to help with admissions and organizing tours
Working with on-line fundraising and communication tools to help Hearthstone connect with its supporters while gaining valuable non-profit experience
Giving fun, interactive tours to elementary and middle school students from across Northeastern Wisconsin
Performing musical pieces as part of the museum’s “Practice with a Purpose” afternoon pop-up concerts or during Hearthstone’s evening fundraising events
Performing in the museum’s theatrical events
Creating pieces of arts or crafts that can be sold on consignment in the museum’s gift shop
Working on the grounds with Outagamie County Master Gardeners
Helping with regular maintenance and restoration (mundane but vital work with a 144 year old residence on the National Register of Historic Places)
Decorating for holidays (particularly Christmas)
Distributing flyers and posters to promote events

Training is always provided. There are no minimum hours required. All opportunities are self-scheduled using the museum’s on-line volunteer management system.

Opportunities start when the museum reopens on Jan 29 after its annual three week hiatus for cleaning .

Volunteering is a meaningful way to serve the community while helping Hearthstone tell its compelling stories.

For additional information, please contact George Schroeder, Executive Director, at gschroeder@hearthstonemuseum.org with subject line Volunteering and see the Our Volunteers page.