Volunteering with Us
The Bloomington Historical Society functions under the direction of professional unpaid
staff who handle administrative duties with the assistance of dedicated volunteers
who assist in a variety of ways. Volunteers assist with hosting the museum public hours
approximately 20 hours per week. History Interpreters give guided tours of the museum to
visitors from the local community as well as state, national and foreign visitors, as
evidenced by our guest book!
Volunteers assist with archiving, special events, exhibits and more.
Would you like to join the ranks of volunteers with the Bloomington Historical Society?
To get involved, send an email to bloomitarian@gmail.com with the following
information:
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- Name
- Email address
- Phone
- Volunteer activities of interest to you. See the list below.
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Volunteer Opportunities
Museum Hosting
Volunteer at the Old Town Hall Museum for a four-hour shift greeting visitors
and guiding them through the museum. Share information about items
on display and encourage visitors to become Historical Society
members. Small projects may be available to work on during quiet
times. Training with a current volunteer host will be provided.
More hosts means more hours we can be open to the public!
Development / Fundraising
Increase funding for
the Bloomington Historical Society through memberships, donations,
grant writing, event sponsorships and online fundraising
opportunities. Funding is needed for events & programs, special
projects, collection management & preservation, and general
operating funds (insurance, etc.). If fundraising is your gift, we
need you!
Display Volunteers
Select
the subjects for five displays per year at Civic Plaza (up for about
two months each) and for smaller monthly displays at the Museum.
Work with Registrar volunteers to identify and find items in the
Museum collection to put on display. Write and print text to
accompany displays, telling stories which inspire the Bloomington
community.
Special Event Planning
Help the planning team to plan a
special event at the museum with a history-related theme on a very
small budget. Use your community networking skills and event
planning experience to put together a one or two-hour event at the
Museum. Past events have included lectures on specific historic
subjects by our Museum volunteers, music or entertainment, short
historical theater productions, slide/film presentations and seasonal
celebrations.
Social Media Volunteer
Volunteer to monitor
Social Media platforms and plan posts on behalf of the Bloomington
Historical Society. Provide text and photos to be posted on our
Facebook page or Website. (The actual posting will be done by a
Board Member.) It could expand in the future to other Social Media
options. Monitor Bloomington history discussion on other Facebook
sites and capture posted stories, comments and photos.
Photographer
Volunteer
to take digital photos around Bloomington of how it looks today.
Take documentary photos of businesses, places of worship and other
public buildings and parks. Identify and download digital media to
Museum computers and back-up media.
Stage and photograph museum artifacts for a new digital inventory system.
Photograph items to accompany social media posts, newspaper articles
and displays. Identify and download digital images to Museum
computers and back-up media.
Writer / Newsletter Editor
Prepare a quarterly
newsletter for historical society members. Select topics and
newsworthy items. Write about some aspect of Bloomington History, or
some research recently done by Museum staff. Prepared articles can
be formatted into newsletter software by a Board Member. Bonus:
Write a guest column about Bloomington History for Sun newspapers
several times a year. Historical accuracy and consistency with the
BHS mission are critical.
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