As a Summer Tour Guide at our museum – you will meet tourists from around the world, welcome them to our town, while sharing the fascinating history and culture of this area. As well, you will assist with planning various events and activities.
If this interests you, then please submit your resume, by email, to conceptionbaymuseum@outlook.com,
(pending funding approval).
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: Program Coordinator/Curator
ORGANIZATION: Conception Bay Museum (Harbour Grace, NL)
EMPLOYMENT DATE: mid May – mid October 2025 (employment dates are flexible)
AD POSTING DATE: March 24, 2025
THE OPPORTUNITY:
The Conception Bay Museum is seeking a Program Coordinator/Curator for the 2025 season.
ABOUT US:
Based inside the old Customs House, the Conception Bay Museum is a 50-year-old heritage institution in Harbour Grace, NL. Our museum features several exhibits on local and regional history, and our grounds host public and private events throughout the summer.
DUTIES:
• Overseeing the management and upgrading of the Museum’s archives using the Past Perfect software program.
• Providing guided tours to the visiting public.
• Maintaining the Museum’s online presence (i.e., website and social media).
• Managing the Museum’s day-to-day summer operations, which include:
o overseeing summer student employment programs,
o controlling daily cash flows, and
o planning and supporting local events (e.g., Museum’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations).
• Partnering with local tourism operators, destination management organizations, municipalities, and associated non-profit groups, as required, on relevant heritage initiatives.
• Overseeing the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP).
• Compiling regular progress reports for the Museum Executive.
SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS:
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong organizational and leadership skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to take initiative on outreach projects.
• Working understanding of web platforms (e.g., WordPress, Facebook, etc.).
• Working knowledge of the history of Harbour Grace, Conception Bay North, and the province considered a strong asset.
The following are considered assets:
• Post-secondary degree/education.
• Experience with Past Perfect and other data collections software.
• Experience with Microsoft Office applications (e.g., Word, Excel, etc.) and graphic design programs (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, etc.).
SALARY: To be negotiated; commensurate with experience.
TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION: Email your cover letter and resume to Brenda Hunt-Stevenson, Co-Chair, at brendahuntstevenson@gmail.com. In your email’s subject header, please write “Museum Job Application – Program Coordinator/Curator.”
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: April 11, 2025, 11:59 p.m. NT
Are you an avid historian and love to learn about history? The Conception Bay Museum is very proud of its preservation of heritage and has curated a collection of information into a 50th Anniversary Calendar. The cost of the calendars are only $10 each and if you are interested in purchasing please reach out to the museum for all of the details. Email- conceptionbaymuseum@outlook.com
PRESS RELEASE – For immediate release
November 6, 2023
HARBOUR GRACE, NL – The Conception Bay Museum has launched its first virtual exhibit with the support of the Digital Museums Canada investment program.
Titled “Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, NL (1919 – Present),” this virtual exhibit details the community’s long, exciting history of aviation through archival records, oral histories, and artifacts.
The story begins in 1919, when the town played host to the Handley Page “Atlantic,” a former World War I bomber, whose pilot, Admiral Sir Mark Kerr, sought to compete in the Great Atlantic Air Race.
In 1927, local labourers constructed Newfoundland’s first permanent airstrip at Harbour Grace to facilitate the around-the-world flight attempt of the Pride of Detroit. This site subsequently hosted twenty transatlantic flight attempts over a nine-year period. Famously, Amelia Earhart utilized the airstrip on her solo transatlantic flight from Harbour Grace to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on May 20, 1932.
While Earhart’s flight remains the airstrip’s most famous, the virtual exhibit shines a light on lesser-known aviators and their aspirations to “challenge the Atlantic.” According to chairperson Patrick J. Collins, the desire to further highlight these lesser-known stories came from the Museum’s revamping of its physical Aviation Room exhibit in 2022:
“Our physical exhibit space offers visitors a wonderful chance to learn about Harbour Grace’s most famous aviators,” says Collins. “But the whole story couldn’t possibly be contained in that room. We started chatting about avenues to tell a fuller picture of our aviation history, and we decided that a virtual exhibit would be ideal. Also, the virtual platform would allow us to showcase both the Museum and community to a national and international audience. The two exhibits pair nicely and hopefully spark visitors’ curiosity.”
To craft this virtual exhibit, the Museum received funding from the Digital Museums Canada investment program. Digital Museums Canada helps build digital capacity in Canadian museums, heritage, cultural, and indigenous organizations, and gives Canadians unique access to diverse stories and experiences. Digital Museums Canada is managed by the Canadian Museum of History, with the financial support of the Government of Canada.
The virtual exhibit also relates the contributions of locals to the airstrip’s enduring legacy, such as the Archibald and Parsons families. Notably, the Archibalds were highly involved in the maintenance and administration of the site during the heyday of transatlantic endeavour. Local Bill Parsons catalogued activities at the airstrip during his time as a stringer for the Associated Press. He later coauthored a book on the airstrip, The Challenge of the Atlantic (1983), with journalist Bill Bowman.
Today, the historic airstrip remains in use, with the local branch of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), Flight 97, organizing regular maintenance.
“Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, NL (1919 – Present)” can now be viewed online on the Digital Museums Canada website: www.communitystories.ca/v2/aviation-harbour-grace
Media contact:
Patrick J. Collins
Chairperson
pjcollins@eastlink.ca
709-589-5662
Matthew G. McCarthy
Secretary
matthewmccarthy@hotmail.ca
709-597-0474
The Conception Bay Museum will launch its first virtual exhibit, developed with the support of Digital Museums Canada Investment Program, on Monday, November 6th, 2023.
Titled “Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, NL (1919-Present),” this virtual exhibit details the community’s long, exciting history of aviation through archival records, oral histories and artifacts.
A LIVE Q&A Event will follow on Tuesday, November 7th from the museum itself. It will be hosted by Matthew McCarthy and Patrick Collins, and open to the general public. For those attending in person, the event will start at 7:00 pm. The Facebook Live event will start online at 7:30 pm.
Any questions can be emailed to the museum at conceptionbaymuseum@outlook.com
An online consultation session held on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, regarding the Conception Bay Museum’s upcoming virtual exhibit with Digital Museums Canada, tentatively titled “Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace (1919-present).”
We’ll be hosting a virtual community consultation session regarding our upcoming virtual exhibit, funded by Digital Museums Canada, tentatively titled “Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, 1919-present.” The virtual exhibit subcommittee will be presenting the overall plan for the project and are interested in community feedback regarding its scope, proposed storyline, and implementation. The session will be hosted virtually on the Zoom video conferencing platform on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, at 7:30 p.m.
We encourage those interested to register for the webinar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m5mceC7hQ3ynpmkoLQYG4g
Please note: This webinar will be recorded.
It’s back!
Our annual Halloween fundraiser: Haunted Harbour Grace…
New route, with all new stories…
Hike starts at the Conception Bay Museum, 1 Water Street East, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 28, heading east…
$10 admission ($5 children, when accompanied by an adult).
Drown your sorrows with the ghosts of Harbour Grace at the Easton 1602 afterparty. 19+, free cover.
He’s back…
Undertaker Rogers makes a summer appearance during Come Home 2022! Meet at the Conception Bay Museum at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27, for a special edition of Haunted Harbour Grace. Admission is $10 per person ($5 for children, when accompanied by an adult). Tickets at the door.
New actors, new stories, same horror…
Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Time: 9 p.m.
Location: Conception Bay Museum, 1 Water St East, Harbour Grace, NL
Admission: $10 per person ($5 children, when accompanied by an adult); tickets at the door
PRESS RELEASE – For immediate release
June 1, 2022
HARBOUR GRACE, NL – The Conception Bay Museum’s well-known Aviation Room has gotten a facelift with funding from Newfoundland & Labrador’s Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.
The revamped Aviation Room reopened for a private viewing on Friday, May 20, in celebration of the 90th anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s solo transatlantic flight from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, to Derry, Northern Ireland. Members of Canada’s Eastern Chapter of the Ninety-Nines–an international organization of female pilots–were in attendance, along with municipal and provincial dignitaries, members of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and the Museum’s board of directors.
The renovated exhibit is a chronological retelling of Harbour Grace’s aviation story, which began in 1919, when the Handley Page “Atlantic” was shipped to the community in 105 gigantic crates. The story continued eight years later, in 1927, when the community constructed the island’s first permanent airstrip to accommodate the transatlantic crossing of the Pride of Detroit. Soon, transatlantic aviators flocked to Harbour Grace as the final stop between North America and Europe. Twenty transatlantic flights were recorded at the airstrip; some were successful, some unsuccessful. However, none were more famous than Earhart’s solo transatlantic flight on May 20, 1932, which made the pilot an international celebrity and feminist icon for generations.
The room also pays tribute to aviators from Harbour Grace, whose endeavours are well remembered in the community. Though Lamont (“Lal”) Parsons fought on behalf of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain, he is perhaps best known for his daring feat of flying between the steeples of Harbour Grace’s Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Claude Stevenson is feted for his contributions to airstrip maintenance during the second half of the twentieth century.
Chair of the Conception Bay Museum, Patrick J. Collins, believes these local contributions are a critical part of the community’s story: “We always try to highlight the local here, in everything we do. Harbour Grace’s aviation story is an international showcase, certainly, but locals have done so much to preserve and promote our airstrip. The Parsonses, the Stevensons, the Pikes, the Archibalds–without their contributions, this legacy might only be a footnote. It’s to their credit that it isn’t. We’re proud to showcase that side of the story as part of our new exhibit.”
Also featured are the models of David Williams, an aviation enthusiast who handcrafted models of each plane associated with the community’s history. Possibly Williams’s finest work–a large model of the “Atlantic” biplane, constructed from leftover material of the original plane–hangs from the ceiling as a fitting showcase.
The public is invited to visit the new exhibit in person when the Conception Bay Museum opens for the season in late June. For further information, visit conceptionbaymuseum.com.
Media contact:
Patrick J. Collins
Chair
pjcollins@eastlink.ca
709-589-5662
Matthew G. McCarthy
Communications Officer
matthewmccarthy@hotmail.ca
709-597-0474
Conception Bay Museum 