A banner on the balcony of the former Custom House in Waldoboro welcomes visitors to new nonprofit Open House of History, where founder Michael Amico hopes to inspire empathy and discovery through exploration of the greater community’s shared history and emotions. (Molly Rains photo)

“A new era is unfolding at the storied Waldoboro Custom House.

Though the events that Open House of History facilitates are diverse, they are all intended to help community members understand themselves, their town, and their neighbors in new ways with history as their guide, according to Amico.

Traditionally, people tend to come together in community around shared interests, Amico said. Inevitably, this can lead to exclusion and group-think, both of which Amico considers counterproductive to dialogue. At Open House of History, Amico hopes to bring visitors together over something more universal: the emotions all people experience and share. ‘People already share emotion,’ he said. ‘We just don’t have a means or a language to talk about it, and certainly not a space.’ The Custom House will create that space, Amico hopes.”

Michael Amico delivers a talk on local educational pioneer Harriett Haskell at the former Waldoboro Custom House in Waldoboro on June 29. The building is now home to Amico’s nonprofit, Open House of History, through which he hopes to bring the past and present into conversation and unite locals over shared emotionality. (Sarah Masters photo)

“Amico wants the new space to encourage visitors to be present and sit with their emotions, particularly with the difficult feeling of uncertainty. He hopes community members will find opportunities at the house’s events to get to know each other, which often, he said, means acknowledging how little people know about their neighbors.

Amico’s journey to founding the nonprofit and articulating its mission has unfolded naturally, if unexpectedly at times, he said. So far, the work has been gratifying.

‘It feels right, but I never thought it would appear this way,’ he said.”

Read the Full Article in The Lincoln County News, August 3, 2025

Historical objects on display at the Customs House in Waldoboro. 

“… asks not only what Waldoboro can and should be as a community — but also how the community might shape the Open House of History itself. … For the initial event held under the auspices of the Open House of History, Amico staged objects in the old Custom House … that are on loan from the Waldoborough Historical Society, and posed a series of questions alongside them. What feelings do these objects evoke? What issues should Waldoboro discuss as a community? What are Waldoboro’s challenges? Its opportunities?

The objects are very deliberately selected; on the first floor, there’s an old telephone, a set of scales, and an old tin of rations, which speak to the different roles the Custom House has played throughout the centuries — including when it was designated as a fallout shelter during the Cold War. Now, Amico wants to give the building back to a community, and see what else it can be.”

Read the Full Article in Midcoast Villager, June 3, 2025