The best way to interface with local history is to get involved with the Historical Society.  First off, if you aren’t already a member, join!  That will keep you in the loop of what’s going on.

What would your ideal volunteer position be?  The best fit would be if we can take your dream niche and articulate it with our current needs.  As Steve Jobs once noted, “If you are working on something exciting you don’t have to be pushed, the vision pulls you.”

Here’s some opportunities that come to mind…

• If you live locally, would you be interested in giving tours at the Bregant House?  These are by reservation only, and we only put the availabilities on the calendar that we have a volunteer for (eg, if you only have time one Tuesday morning a month, that’s all we would schedule you for).  The house is tiny and the whole tour, including the 12 minute video, is 30 minutes.  RailsWest and Squirrel Cage Jail museums have paid staff, but for larger groups or special events we sometimes need volunteer guides for them as well.

• Here's a great way to learn local history at home from those that have lived through it.  We record oral history interviews with some of our older residents, and we've learned a lot from them.  We have a transcript made of the recordings using an automated system, and though it works resonably well, some of the words come out rather creative (eg, "Nishnabotna River" is transcribed as "Dniester-Botner River" and our local newspaper, "The Nonpareil" sometimes come out "the non Perel").  We need people to listen to the recording as they read the transcription and make the corrections.  This can be done online from home with any browser using an iPad or computer.  

• If you are one who likes organizing things, we could certainly use help in maintaining our membership database.  This would involve a spreadsheet to keep track of members and donors, sending renewal notices, thank you notes, updating with new member information and so forth.  You can do this from home.

• Help in cleaning, minor maintenance, and "handyman" things are always needed and VERY appreciated!

• We can always use website help.  This can be as simple as updating current events once or twice a month (you can do from home, no web skills needed) to more extensive things if you have the time and experience.  Not all of our pages are mobile-friendly, for example, and we would like to have some pages updated so that they would have a look consistent with the rest of the site.

• Volunteers are always needed to help the staff at occasional special events, such as our Historic Homes for the Holidays Tour, Open Omaha, Railroad Days, Flashlight Tours, etc.  

• If you have some artistic talent and access to any sort of appropriate software we could always use help in updating logos, web page design, and other graphic arts type work.

• We can always use help digitizing archives by scanning photos and other printed material.  This would need to be done at one of our museums.

• Archives aren't very useful if we don't know what we have or where to find it.  We're embarking on a major project to index our collections, using museum-specific software and a standardized system from the State Historical Society of Iowa.  We can use help entering this into the computer system.  What a great way to get an inside look at what's in the archives and be a part of its preservation!

• Are you into video editing?  Ready to unleash your inner Stephen Spielberg?  Not long ago this would have required expensive equipment and probably years of practice or training but it seems now many average folks are putting together videos for social media on their computers or iPads.  If you are one of those, this might be a nice outlet for your creativity.  We’re not looking for a Hollywood production, just someone to help string a few photos together now and then for our social media posts.  If you go to our Facebook page Council Bluffs Revealed you can see some of the videos we’ve posted.

• If you have experience in theater or singing in the church choir and folks always say you have a great voice, we may be able to use your talents as voice-over for our videos.  The Council Bluffs library has a studio that can be used for recording.  If this sounds fun, grab a page of anything you care to read and send us a voice demo.  For the demo don’t worry about acoustics; recording on your phone will be fine.  Email information@TheHistoricalSociety.org with the recording file attached.

• If your interest is general historical research we can use help answering questions we get from the public.  The answers to a lot of questions aren’t hard to find, it just takes time.  Often all one needs is to check the Nonpareil archives, free online if you have a CB library card.  We would also give you a link to a couple of online databases that aren’t accessible to the public.  What helps it from becoming tedious are the things one discovers on the way in those old newspapers and such that are interesting yet not necessarily related to the original question :)

• If you like writing you can put together stories about local history.  If you like researching, we can point you in the right direction, or we can send you all the info and all you have to do is write an article from it.  As to a topic: what would you like to learn more about?  Whether it’s the Mormon pilgrims or the Razzle Dazzle Club, it’s all part of our history.  Remember, history isn’t boring.  Be it railroads or roller rinks, it has all contributed to making our town what it is today.  If you are interested in the topic, we guarantee others are as well.  Pick the topic you are passionate about and dive in.  We can give you some tips on the best places to find information.  If you like writing, feel free to put your findings into an article.  If that’s not your thing just send us what facts you discover and we can have a professional writer weave it into a story.  Warning:  This can be addictive.  Some of our members started out this way with one topic and now are most knowledgeable people about local history alive!

• We have many years of our old “Member Journals” that have interesting articles in them.  We need someone to read the articles and rewrite them in shorter format for posting in the History Online section of our website.  What a great way to learn local history and help others get access to this information at the same time!

• Similar to above… we have some recordings and transcripts of past hour-long live programs that would make for nice articles if they could be shortened.  Most people don’t have time to wade through that long an article but if shortened many more may enjoy it.

• Got an opinion?  We could use that!  We depend on our informal focus group to preview exhibits, articles, videos and ideas in general and provide feedback and suggestions.  We do this via email.  If you are too busy at a particular time to review something we sent, fine, just sit that one out.  We need people of all backgrounds and ages, the more variety the better.

Interested?  Want more information?  Contact us at Information@TheHistoricalSociety.org