By: Lizbeth Colocho
At Galveston County Museum, our volunteers are the heart of our organization and one of the biggest reasons why we are able to move forward with our mission to preserve the history of Galveston County. Despite all the adversities and challenges the Museum has had to overcome since Hurricane Ike in 2008, we have been able to rebuild our museum and resume to telling the stories of Galveston’s rich culture and history with the help of community volunteers. Today, the Galveston County Museum has started a fresh new chapter inside the Galveston County Courthouse, and although the toughest times have passed, our amazing volunteers continue to share their time and their love of history to preserve that of Galveston County.
So, what do you gain from the experience of being a volunteer at the Galveston County Museum?
Becoming a volunteer does not only benefit the organization you are choosing to give a helping hand to, but it can be beneficial to you as well! For example:
1. You may learn a new skill or have the opportunity to further develop one you might already have.
The Galveston County Museum has amazing opportunities for skill-building and development. You could have the chance to work on some exciting projects! One of our volunteers, Beverly, has been a member of the museum for over a year. She has experience with Photoshop and used to teach high school students how to use it. Beverly describes museums as being “like a holy place” for her. That’s why she decided that the Galveston County Museum was the right place for her to volunteer. Some of the projects she has worked on include image restoration, preparing artifacts for exhibition, and cataloging artifacts for the Museum’s digital archives. Learning to put pieces of an image back together and bring it back to life to tell the story it’s meant to is a huge deal, especially for a museum! Imagine learning to do this properly and being able to restore an old photograph of your grandparents, all because you gave your time to the Galveston County Museum.
2. You get to take a deep dive into the history of Galveston through our artifacts, books, photographs, and art pieces from back in the day.
Galveston County has always been a vibrant and bustling town. Many people have come from Galveston County and shared the stories of how it came to be through their writings, poems, and art pieces. When volunteering at the Galveston County Museum, you have the opportunity to feed your love of history and take a trip back in time to Galveston’s fancy casinos and night clubs, giving you insight into what life in Galveston was like before we were even born. “It’s a win-win,” says Kurt, another museum volunteer, “I get to learn stuff, and the museum benefits from my efforts.” Kurt has also been a volunteer at the museum for a year and does a lot of image digitization. In the process, he gets to learn about Galveston County’s history and enjoys reading the books from the Museum’s online library.
3. Last, but not least. You will enjoy it.
If you love museums. If you love learning about history and experiencing that knowledge firsthand. If you care about being part of a small, but powerful community that is doing its best at telling the story of Galveston County. Just come down to the Museum and give it a shot; you might end up wondering why you didn’t volunteer sooner!
