LAHS News:

With the spring tourist season fast approaching, Los Alamos Historical Society (LAHS) and its History Museum are seeking new volunteers for a variety of positions. Six training sessions will be offered covering the six main eras of Los Alamos history and the highlights of our historic district.

Training will be from 10:30-4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 22, and Saturday, March 1. Each Saturday will cover different eras, and volunteers are encouraged to attend both days for volunteer certification. Registration is required, and anyone high-school age and up is encouraged to attend. Please register by Feb. 20 by emailing volunteer@losalamoshistory.org. Participants will meet at the Mesa Public Library in the large meeting room upstairs.

Training comprises presentations on Los Alamos and the Pajarito Plateau, coveringthe Ancestral Puebloans, the Homestead Era, the Los Alamos Ranch School, the Manhattan Project, and post-war Los Alamos. The sessions also emphasize visitor engagement and customer service.

This training is part of the Historical Society’s volunteer certification program, through which volunteers learn how to serve as docents in the Museum Shop and the historic Hans Bethe House, as tour guides, or as guides to the homestead-era Romero Cabin.

Docents in the Los Alamos History Museum work one to four shifts a month; shifts are four hours. Tasks include greeting and orienting visitors, answering questions about Los Alamos history and the community, and overseeing sales in the Museum Shop. Those working in the Hans Bethe House explain the community’s post-war history through the Harold Agnew Cold War Gallery. Romero Cabin docents share the community’s homestead history. Tour guides lead guests on 1.5 hour tours featuring a stop inside the homestead-era Romero Cabin, a visit to an Ancestral Pueblo Site, and stories about the Manhattan Project as well as post-war Los Alamos.

Volunteers also work in the LAHS Archive and Collections (A&C), and, although the A&C orientation is very specific, it is also beneficial to attend these sessions to enhance their knowledge of community and regional history.

For more information, please email Mary Plants, Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteer@losalamoshistory.org.