Virtual Volunteer Appreciation with Secretary Bunch: A Recap of a Special Event

by Joann Stevens, Guest Blogger

Technology and digital learning will have a starring role in Smithsonian volunteerism, community engagement and education but not at the expense of sustaining personal relationships with and outreach to people.  This was the core message presented by Smithsonian leadership from Secretary Lonnie Bunch to curators and volunteer coordinators at the first virtual Smithsonian Volunteer Appreciation Day, May 25^th.  The digital event also previewed the Smithsonian’s upcoming Futures exhibition and the institution’s progressive mission in a Q&A with volunteers.

Safety protocols made the digital event a necessity, but leaders stressed that maintaining intimate engagement with volunteers and people across the U.S. and the world is driving the Smithsonian’s educational strategy and digital outreach. “Volunteers are special to me, always have been,” Secretary Bunch told invited online guests numbering in the hundreds.  “You are the heart and soul of the Smithsonian.  I am in awe of the hours you give and the service you provide to the country.”

Bunch spent nearly half of the one-hour event answering pre-taped volunteer questions that focused on pandemic recovery, lessons learned in founding the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to celebrating the Smithsonian’s 175^th Anniversary and the role of diversity and inclusion in developing the forthcoming Latino and women’s history museums and engaging diverse communities and volunteers. Bunch said churches, synagogues, social and educational groups, seniors groups, and organizations swerving youth will be tapped into to recruit volunteers and develop partnerships with people “we traditionally don’t talk to.”  Diverse volunteers will be counted on to “beat the drum of what the Smithsonian is about” to help recruit and retain diversity of volunteers by age, race, ethnicity, abilities and skill sets.

“It will take time to fully recover,” Bunch told Jan Mutka, a Smithsonian Associates’ volunteer asking about the pandemic.  “We need to reframe many of our business models and do a better job online” with programs and partnerships. “Staff is going to grow, but slowly,” he said. “It is important for the Smithsonian to model the behavior we expect from the rest of the country.  Embracing inclusion has been at the heart of my career.”

Founding NMAAHC, Bunch said he learned that the Smithsonian could “reimagine itself and have contemporary relevance” across the nation and the world to help people “confront challenges and find hope.”  As people grapple with difficult social and world issues, seeking understanding is key, he said responding to Martha, who said she began as a volunteer in 1981 with the first docent class of the Freer and Sackler Gallery.

“The Smithsonian’s 175^th Anniversary is not about us, but the Smithsonian as a gift to America for 175 years,” Bunch told Susan Linden, a volunteer at American Art who also volunteers with the Associates.  He said diversity and inclusion goals will be priorities in developing the new museums and recruiting and retaining volunteers to implement the Smithsonian mission. “Staff is going to grow, but slowly,” he said. “It is important for the Smithsonian to model the behavior we expect from the rest of the country.  Embracing inclusion has been at the heart of my career.”

The appreciation event also included a preview of  the “Futures” Exhibition  opening at the Arts and Industries Building this November 2021 as part of the Smithsonian’s 175^th Anniversary Celebration. A slide show and narration explained the exhibition’s themes: Futures that work, inspire, and unite peoples. Artifacts/events in the exhibition will include the typewriter of Afrofuturist writer Octavia Butler  and an AI robot that will seek to calm visitors into a meditative state.

Volunteers Jane Dunphy and Barbara Lehmann were cited for 50-years of volunteerism at the museum of American History. They began their roles as education volunteers seven years after the museum opened.  

Teen volunteers, ages 14-19, were cited for their support of the Q'rius Coralyn Whitney Science Education Center  at the museum of natural history.  Youth have provided more than 5,200 volunteer hours for work ranging from supporting community engagement and hands-on learning to helping develop exhibits and marketing materials.

The Smithsonian's Transcription Center volunteers were highlighted, as they now represent over 50,000 people, including students from 600 schools, who have transcribed over 845,000 pages of documents.  One volunteer even discovered a previously unknown descendant in documents.

As Sherri Wheeler, Director of the Office of Visitor Services said to the volunteers, "You make our mission easier to achieve." Thank you for the commitment and dedication you have shared in the past, most unusual year. Our connections are virtual now, but hopefully we will be back in person at the Ripley Center in time for the next appreciation party!