Kimberly,
 
I agree with Annmarie, impersonator is a very poorly chosen word and definitely will rub many people the wrong way.  Interpreter (character, first-person, or third-person) or re-enactor are preferable.  (Keep in mind there are differences between re-enactors and interpreters in some cases.  That however is another discussion.)  At our museum, we prefer to call all staff (volunteer or paid) interpreters.  We have a volunteer militia group and they are referred to as re-enactors.  In our case we do not hire interpreters outside of our organization, unless they are coming for a special presentation, and then we apply travel expenses and an honorarium.  All of our volunteer interpreters must go through our museum training.  We typically do this once a year, but we do not turn down a good volunteer if they have missed the formal training session.  All interpretive volunteers must also present their character for a staff only peer review.  Incidentally, paid staff undergoes this same process when developing a new character or program.  We do not provide clothing to volunteer character interpreters.  This is the responsibility of the individual.  The reviewal of their clothing is part of the overall process of acceptance into the volunteer character program.  Volunteer interpreters must adhere to the same standards as staff in terms of appearance.  We have materials that are given to volunteers which provide guidelines in this area.  Our volunteer militia is different; they are an entity all of their own.  This is the only group that loosely represents our museum in other programs.  I use the term "loosely" since they share our name and are affiliated with our museum, but have their own governing board, etc.  The group has been in existence for decades and has always done a fine job of representing the museum abroad.
 
I'd be happy to answer any further questions you may have and hope this is helpful information for you.
 
Regards,
 
Susan
 
 

Susan B. Zickel
Interpretive Programs Coordinator
Historic St. Mary's City
P.O. Box 39
St. Mary's City, MD 20686

[log in to unmask]

========================================================= Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).