Volunteer Opportunities at the
Plymouth Historical Museum
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Ron Lowe as Abraham Lincoln
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The Plymouth
Historical Museum owes its success to the efforts of
its dedicated volunteers who host, greet,
and guide guests through the Museum; help to plan and
present its activities;
create displays; maintain the
physical property; and otherwise support the various
functions of the institution. Volunteers add great value to
the Museum, but they also derive great value from their
association with its stimulating environment. Volunteers
acquire new skills, interests,
and knowledge; develop new friendships; and explore new
horizons for personal and professional growth. |
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Interested in learning more about the Museum’s volunteer
opportunities? Contact the
Volunteer
Coordinator. Join us in making a difference in the life
of our community. Telephone (734) 455-8940. |
Opportunities abound in the Museum for individuals who
wish to share in its success. Those opportunities include:
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Greeter-Guides
Greeter-Guides meet one of the Museum’s most
critical needs. They welcome guests, orient them to the
building’s facilities and the exhibits, and provide
information about the exhibits. A friendly disposition and
comfort meeting people are the only requisites for the job.
Greeter-Guides who serve in the Lincoln Room have
specialized knowledge about Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln
and of the times in which they lived. Also, some volunteers,
called the “Keepers of the Keys,”
open and close the Museum on the weekends and assure that
everything is in order to receive the public. |
Doug and Kay Koch
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Anna Lopez
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Educational Programs
Former teachers, aspiring teachers and others combine to
design and present programs for elementary and middle school
students using the Museum’s exhibits and artifacts to
present American history in an entertaining and engaging
way. The Museum’s educational activities attract schools
from throughout the metropolitan area. But, don’t let the
term “teacher” scare you; anyone interested in advancing the
educational goals of the Museum is invited to participate in
one of its most important functions. |
Archives
The Archives houses the Museum’s collection
of written historical materials, (with a particularly
impressive anthology of Abraham Lincoln), records of the
Museum’s collections and a broad array of manuscripts
regarding the Plymouth community, such as census data, old
newspapers, photographs and genealogies of Plymouth
families. The Archives attracts researchers of every type.
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Alex Jablonski
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Roy Pilkington
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Maintenance
If you have any mechanical skills or
knowledge of a trade, the Maintenance crew just might be the
place for you. Members of the team care for the building’s
physical structure and its mechanical systems, build
displays and other attractions, and otherwise are the
Museum’s “jacks-of-all-trades.” They work Monday and
Wednesday mornings. |
Exhibits
Have a flair for design or an artistic
streak? Put these to use; join the Exhibits group and help
it to conceive and erect special displays and exhibits. This
team of creative persons continuously garners high praise
from the public for its outstanding work. It meets
Wednesdays during the year, but every day during exhibit
change-over. |
Jean Scheppele and Karen Witmer
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Barbara Peterson
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Hospitality
The Museum hosts regular monthly meetings of
its membership as well as other special events during the
year. On those occasions, volunteers help to decorate the
rooms with such things as floral arrangements, table
settings and food displays. |
Finance Committee
Members of the finance committee plan and
prepare the Museum’s budgets, plan fund raising activities
and monitor the Museum’s investments to assure that its
fiscal health remains sound. Managing the Museum’s
endowment, vitally crucial to its long term welfare,
requires specialized knowledge of investment strategies. |
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Ruth Jacobs and Loretta Olson
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Gift Shop
The Museum operates a small outlet that
stocks a variety of items such as, to name just a few, books
about Abraham Lincoln and Plymouth history, and replicas of
antique toys. The gift shop is open during the Museum’s
normal hours of operation and is staffed entirely by
volunteers. |
Development
Because the Museum receives no state or
municipal support, it relies heavily on donations from
private citizens and foundations for its existence. As a
result, fund raising continues to be a vital piece of the
Museum’s work. If you have development experience and would
like to help with a major capital campaign or on-going fund
raising initiatives, please contact the Executive Director
of the Museum at (734) 455-8940 for more information about
the Museum’s plans and about how you can assist it to
achieve its goals in this area. |
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Newsletter
The Museum disseminates the Museum Memo,
a monthly newsletter (9 times a year) to its members, other
museums and professional organizations. The Museum invites
anyone with writing ability and editorial expertise to help
it prepare the newsletter for publication and mailing.
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Accessions
Items that are donated to the Museum have
to be acknowledged and catalogued. The process is called
"accessioning." The accessions staff works on Wednesdays to
ensure the Museum's items are properly accounted for and are
entered into the Museum software. |
Virginia Schubatis and Lois Dusbiber
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