Settlement to host its volunteer open house

Dina May has been welcoming visitors to the historic Martin Mitchell Mansion for three years.

She greets them in a turn-of-the-century ensemble featuring a high-collared, lacey dress cinched at the waist with a sash and further feminized with puffy sleeves and a small train.

When she ushers them in the door, locals and visitors from places such as Australia, China, Vietnam and England want to know the same thing: who were the Martins and the Mitchells?

"A lot of them are interested to know about the family and what enabled them to acquire their wealth," May said.

She cheerfully shares what she knows about the family members from Scotland who arrived in the United States as farmers and expanded their business interests to a variety of other spheres.

May, a volunteer interpreter, said she decided to help out at Naper Settlement after years of enjoying the 19th-century museum village's amenities.

"I've lived here since 1979," she said. "I was very much a participant in activities here."

An open house for others who'd like to explore the possibility of becoming volunteer costumed interpreters at the museum will be offered from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday in the settlement's Pre-Emption House. A second session will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Both are intended for adults and teens in eighth grade and older.

"It's a recruitment for teens and adults who would be interested in learning what it would be like to be a costumed interpreter in one of our buildings," said Patricia Larson, the settlement's volunteer coordinator.

The open house is just an introduction to the settlement's interpreter program, she said. Volunteer training will be provided later.

Larson said volunteer interpreters learn the history of the buildings where they'll be stationed, be it the schoolhouse, the print shop, the blacksmith shop, the log house or other buildings.

Wearing period costumes, they impart their knowledge to visitors. Larson said most interpreters work two or three 3½-hour shifts per month.

Teens work only weekend shifts, while adults are needed to work both weekdays and weekends.

Volunteers, supported and educated by the museum's staff of paid educators, help keep the museum humming with activity and learning opportunities, she said.

"Without our volunteers, we couldn't function," she said. "We love our volunteers."

And volunteers revel in helping others understand Naperville's past.

May said she always looks forward to school tours coming through the mansion. Students seem especially curious about how life was different for their predecessors.

"They get into the fact that protocol for kids was different," she said. "They really are so fascinated by the whole thing."

If you go

What: Volunteer Open House

Who: Adults and teens in eighth grade and older

Where: Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville

When: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday and 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday

Info: (630) 420-6010 or napersettlement.museum