Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Volunteering at the AHC



Volunteers play an important role at the Arkansas History Commission.  Without their help some of our most popular resources, such as our Confederate pension index or our index to Arkansas land records, might not be available.  The AHC is always accepting applications from individuals who are interested in assisting with the preservation of Arkansas history and in helping us provide better access to the wealth of material housed in our collections.

The Arkansas History Commission currently has several projects in need of volunteers.  Our In Remembrance project, an index to death records in Arkansas prior to 1920, has been an ongoing project for several years now.  Newer projects include indexing military discharge records filed with Arkansas counties and searching newspapers to locate mentions of Orphan Train riders that traveled to the state.  But it’s not all indexing when it comes to projects at the AHC, volunteers also have the opportunity to help with basic collection processing, such as sorting and rehousing collections, and helping with the ongoing digitization projects  by creating metadata and helping with transcriptions. 

Anyone interested in volunteering with the Arkansas History Commission should complete an application form, found on our website under the “About Us” section.  Applications can be submitted via email to state.archives@arkansas.gov or to the History Commission’s mailing address: One Capitol Mall, Suite 2B-215, Little Rock, AR 72201.

Once an application is submitted, the AHC works with the potential volunteer to determine a project and work schedule best suited to their skills and availability.  While many of the projects would need to be completed on site, there are opportunities for those who need or want to work from home.  If you have questions about the application process or potential projects please contact Lauren Jarvis at (501) 682-6897 or via email at lauren.jarvis@arkansas.gov.