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.
