When Aimée Keithan was in eighth grade, she designed “the perfect” Elizabethan country home. Inspired by a historical novel, Keithan brought her ideas to life in a sketchbook. That passion for art led her to architecture, then a career in history and museums. In December, Keithan was hired as Boothbay Region Historical Society’s (BRHS) first executive director.   

“I'm a ridiculous, passionate nerd when it comes to history, sharing history with people and being with like-minded nerds,” she said. “That's really what got me really interested in it, the potential to grow.” 

BRHS has had a director in the past, but the organization has big plans and decided to develop the new executive director job to help implement them, according to board president Dana Wilson. Wilson said the Society received a good number of applications, but Keithan’s rose to the top right away. 

“Aimée’s resume clearly demonstrated her professional and academic achievements to us,” she said. “Not captured on paper, though, are her welcoming personality, honesty, sense of humor, clear respect for, and understanding of, how the society has worked and where our organization is at, and appreciation of our old house and the collections in it.” 

Keithan is from Waldo County, but much of her academic architectural history background is from abroad. After getting her undergraduate degree in architecture from UMaine Augusta, she worked in an architectural firm in Brunswick. There, she worked with old houses to save some of their historical features while modernizing them. Shortly after, she decided to focus on the history of buildings and eventually received a doctorate in historic building conservation studies from the University of York in the United Kingdom.  

“I became a historian because I saw a lot of chances to tell stories that weren't being told,” she said. “My research particularly focuses on using the physical evidence in architecture to tell stories about people who use the spaces (that) might not have written records.”  

Keithan has always been interested in buildings, especially what they can say about the people who occupied them. She looks at a building like a geologist looks at stratigraphy – history in layers. A cut in a brick wall is evidence of a blocked window, but why take the window out? Windows were taxed at that time, so the occupants likely couldn't afford them.   

“It tells you something about the way people lived, and it doesn't lie,” she said. “Records can lie. They can be biased. Buildings don't lie. And I just love that.”  

Now, her office is tucked in the back of BRHS’ historic museum, the Elizabeth F. Reed House. Filled with collections and artifacts, the building is a piece of history in Boothbay Harbor. Keithan said it was a summer home like many others, but also hosted the Monday Club. She said she loves that the building is tied to passionate people. She said where Monday Club members were dedicated to women's suffrage, BRHS is passionate about history.  

“To come to an organization like this, which has such a rich history, but there's still much more we can mine, was really attractive.”

However, Keithan said her new role won't exclusively be diving into history. BRHS recently had an assessment of its building and collections that came with a list of recommendations. The organization hopes to begin strategic planning under Keithan’s leadership. 

“Now, with Aimee at the helm as (the executive director), we have an experienced manager who can organize the Board better than ever before, facilitate the strategic planning process, help us grow our support base, and really move the society forward to be a better resource for the community,” Wilson said.  

With several museum leadership roles under her belt, most recently museum manager of Pejepscot History Center in Brunswick, Keithan said she is ready. However, she is taking a measured approach. She said she is starting by getting to know people on an individual basis, find out what they need and how her role can help.   

“... My intention is to listen because this place has been running for a long time just fine without an executive director,” she said. “I'm here because we want to actually take this into a new place, into a new, more modernized direction, but still maintain the flavor and the passions that we have.”