Five Questions With: Eleanor Langham

Eleanor Langham is the executive director at Coggeshall Farm Museum in Bristol. She earned her undergraduate degree in history and anthropology from the University of Rhode Island and her master’s degree in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University. She has worked at many local museums, including Slater Mill, Mystic Seaport and the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society. In addition to her work in museums, Langham is also an archaeologist and board member of Greening the Sphere. She was recently named one of PBN’s 40 under Forty program.

PBN: You were named executive director of the Coggeshall Farm Museum in March, how did you come to work with the organization?

LANGHAM: Networking was the key to finding my position at Coggeshall Farm Museum. In 2015 while I was employed at the Old Slater Mill Association, I coordinated the loan of an 18th-century loom to Coggeshall. When I went to see the loom in Bristol that summer, I was delighted by the energy of the site and the staff. I completed my master’s degree in museum studies around the same time and started to think more about the trajectory of my career. By early 2016, I was ready to make a change and inquired with Cindy Elder, then-executive director of Coggeshall, about possible employment opportunities. The timing was perfect – Coggeshall needed not only educators, but also someone who could handle administrative tasks. The ability to use all of the skills from my professional and academic career was exactly what I was looking for and exactly what the museum needed.

PBN: During your first six months in the position what have been your biggest challenges?

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LANGHAM: The first issue I faced was employing and training new staff in time for our busiest season. Our winter staffing needs are minimal, so when I accepted the position, it was time to make critical hiring decisions. We welcomed four new members to the interpretive staff, as well as several volunteers and interns. In the spring, not only do we open to the public for general tours, we welcome school children from across Rhode Island and Massachusetts. We also host our second-largest festival, the Rhode Island Fiber Festival and Craft Fair, which serves as our spring fundraiser. The new staff needed to be ready to handle large volumes of visitors, while conveying relevant content in an engaging manner.

The position of museum interpreter is uniquely challenging and not everyone is up for the task. That being said, I am happy to report we have one of the most hardworking and dedicated teams I have witnessed in my career, who rose to the occasion and completed a successful spring season.

PBN: Are these challenges similar or different than those faced by the small-museum industry nationwide?

LANGHAM: Some of the challenges are standard to small museums. We are constantly looking for ways to do more with less. Most small museums in New England are seasonal, so spring hiring is fairly common and our small staff creates programs, leads large and intensive school groups and executes events with up to 2,000 attendees with minimal resources.

As with any nonprofit, we also rely on our members and donors. I cannot think of many examples where museums are not constantly fundraising. Grants, donations, memberships and fundraising events keep our lights on and our doors open. Building and maintaining the relationships with our community is hard work, but it is the reason we are here.

What makes Coggeshall special is we are both a farm and a museum. In addition to the standard challenges any small museum faces, we also need to make sure our animals are cared for, our garden is tended and our site is maintained. My days are never predictable. I can start the day working in our donor database or writing a press release, then help deliver a baby lamb in the afternoon. Juggling many different tasks is common in museums, but the farm aspect adds a new dimension to my work.

PBN: Looking one to five years down the road, what are your goals for developing the farm and its role in the community?

LANGHAM: My goals involve a focus on the museum part of Coggeshall. The potential Coggeshall has as a historical and cultural resource is enormous. Right now, the staff is hard at work converting what used to be a residence into the Champlin Education Center. We are transforming the structure into a research center, gallery, offices and even an efficiency suite. Our first exhibition in the gallery will feature objects from the Tim Bornstein Historic Tool Collection, which was gifted to the museum 25 years ago but has not been exhibited in recent memory. It is my hope the exhibit not only serves as a tribute to Bornstein and his collection, but also creates awareness about the artifacts we care for at Coggeshall.

As we build community, the new efficiency suite will host talented artisans, researchers and educators who will enrich our programming through lectures, workshops and trainings. We are also hard at work seeking opportunities to make our grounds accessible to all members of the community, including working with ASL [American Sign Language] instructors, the Autism Center of Rhode Island and other organizations to ensure our interpretation is inclusive. In addition, we are developing a plan to translate our materials into multiple languages.

To guarantee that the museum is around for several more generations, we are in the process of planning several large infrastructure improvements. Our historic farmhouse roof will be repaired thanks to a state preservation grant and funding from the 1772 Foundation; the NRCS [Natural Resources Conservation Service] is partnering with us to improve our animal pastures and fencing and we will lay the foundation of a new post-and-beam animal barn this year thanks to the Green Economy Bond. All of these improvements would not be possible without the support of the Rhode Island community.

PBN: As summer approaches, what do you have planned for public events on the farm grounds?

LANGHAM: Throughout the summer we will have special programming every day, including garden workshops, fence building, fiber processing and story time. On Saturdays, we will bring back one of our most popular programs, “Wake up the Barnyard,” when guests can help feed our animals and get our farm ready for the day. For our summer schedule, visit www.coggeshallfarm.org or visit our Facebook.

Emily Gowdey-Backus is a PBN staff writer. Email her at Gowdey-Backus@PBN.com, or you can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey.