It all started with Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Yep. A movie. My teenage frame couldn't contain the glee that movie imparted. Aside from the fact that the movie was awesome, it gave viewers a hero that was educated and brave. He knew other cultures, languages, histories etc... And he was pretty darn handy with a whip. All well and good, but the thing that relates Raiders to volunteering is that, after I saw the movie, I wanted to learn about other cultures and histories. I wanted to walk around a museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and know the difference between Chaco and Chicano culture. I wanted to be part of that world.
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| Who wouldn't want to volunteer to hang out with the Dr. Joneses? |
My step father at the time was a docent at the National Gallery of Art, in DC. He suggested I ask the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History if they needed docents. Truthfully, I never knew they had volunteers. I saw all of the people behind the museum desks and always assumed they were bona fide employees. And since I was a sophomore in high school at the time, I also assumed that those 9-5 jobs would have to wait until I was out of college. Not the case! This is important. The place you love to visit probably has volunteers also! All you have to do is ask. Just. Ask.
I lived near the Metro in those days and it was easy to hop a train and go to the Smithsonian. I did just that. I walked up to the help desk near the giant Mastodon in the Rotunda and simply asked, "How do I become a volunteer?" Simple as that.
I spent every other Sunday morning as a docent in the Discovery Room, a hands on room for kids. We showed them activity boxes based on museum exhibits, answered questions, and motivated them to learn more. I loved it. And it was fun to play with everything. But I think what I also enjoyed was the feeling that I was part of the Smithsonian Institution, a world-respected entity that employed real-live Indiana Joneses. As a volunteer I was allowed to roam the halls before the crowds arrived. I had the museum to myself, it felt sometimes. I was part of that world.
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| Discovery Room Docents teach children about what they see in the rest of the museum, in a language they can understand. |
I remained a volunteer in the Discovery Room until I entered college. When I came back for summer break, I worked as a Naturalist Center docent.
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| Naturalist Center Docents. |
The Naturalist Center is the hands-on part of the museum for older visitors, home-schoolers, college students, people working on projects relating to natural history. Back then it was in the basement of the museum. (It later moved to a remote locale, but will be moving back to the museum in winter 2012!) It contained cabinets full of specimens and equipment visitors could use.
Each of the Naturalist Center docents, (and there were many) had a project. My project was creating a primate osteology learning lab - a teach yourself about monkey bones primer. We already had a human osteology project that was used by several George Washington University anthropology students. I was helping create its monkey cousin. This involved labeling specimens using India ink and assigning numbers to each little bone. My handwriting is still there on those monkey bones, for future generations to decipher.
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| My monkeys. I can still remember how the mid sagittal crest on a gorilla impressed me. That's my sister's leg, btw, pointing to the gorilla skull. And, of course, there I am looking completely shapeless in that dress. |
None of this work earned me a dime. What it did was allow me to feel part of something special. That's not to say I didn't have perks. I was given private tours of the upper floors, where the curators (the Indiana Joneses) worked. I attended lectures given by Richard Leaky. I learned how to distinguish odd bone pathologies by a renowned physical anthropologist, and hold the bones of soldiers that had fallen at Custer's Last Stand in my own hands. I was also able to add this experience to my resume, which distinguished me from other applicants in many jobs I landed.
I think these things adequately compensated me at the time.
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| Human bone specimens. Notice the fracture in the bottom bone, which looks like it might be a femur, given the massive ball joint. It also looks to have healed while the subject was still alive. It must have been painful to live with. I learned to read bones as a volunteer. |
I loved volunteering with the Smithsonian so much I eventually worked with the Folklife Festival, and volunteered at the National Zoo's herpetology and bird labs. I would still be a docent there if I lived in the DC area. I miss it often. I learned so much about archaeology, anthropology and life science.
The place you love to visit in your neck of the woods probably needs volunteers also! All you have to do is ask. I've added a list of websites here to help DC/VA/MD residents get started on their quest, if they are interested in volunteering for the Smithsonian.
How to volunteer at the Smithsonian Institution:
http://www.si.edu/Volunteer
Volunteering at the Museum of Natural History:
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/rtp/other_opps/internship_summary.html
Volunteering at the National Gallery of Art:
http://www.nga.gov/education/volunteer.shtm#docents
Volunteering at the National Zoo
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Support/Volunteer/
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