Jan Turnquist

executive director, Orchard House

Jan Turnquist is the founder and director of InterAct Performances, an organization devoted to the wonderful impact that living history presentations and meaningful seminars can have in the worlds of education, business, and personal enrichment. Jan is an educator, actress, and historian. She holds her teaching certification and degrees in English and Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin. She has been featured in television roles on PBS, the Fox Network, and several BBC productions. Now a consultant to Orchard House Museum, where Louisa May Alcott wrote *Little Women* in 1868, she spent 18 years on staff there as Living History Coordinator, Education Coordinator, and Historic Interpreter. Through InterAct Performances, Jan currently leads programs across the country. Her living history portrayals are popular with schools, universities, libraries, museums, civic groups, conventions, senior groups and the like. She has also developed a successful offering of seminars and workshops in order to share more of her natural talents, developed skills, and researched material with teachers, business people, students, elder hostel attenders and others.