Dakota County Historical Society

Position Description

As a front desk volunteer, you will be the welcoming face of the Dakota County Historical Society at the Lawshe Memorial Museum. You will greet visitors, answer questions, and complete general tasks that assist with the museum’s operations.

Your main tasks will be interacting and caring for the public as they enter the museum. During downtime, you may be asked to assist with various other tasks regarding with the museum’s operations. The volunteer will work closely with the Executive Director, Associate Director and/or Marketing & Membership Coordinator.

Duties & Responsibilities

Visitor Interaction

• Greet visitors as they enter the museum
• As an admission-free museum, point out the donation box
• Direct visitors to handouts of the museum’s exhibits and layout
• Answer any questions they might have

Gift Shop

• Assist with purchases in the gift shop, running the cash register system
• Count out the till to ensure accuracy
• Provide change as needed
• Must be comfortable using an iPad to run the register, as well as handling money

General

• Notify staff if any items are running low in stock, or cash register
• Be the eyes and ears on the first floor for staff when visitors are in the building and notify staff of anything suspicious
• Assist with the security of the museum, artifacts, and people in the building
• Learn the organizational history, as well as exhibits, to be able to answer questions from visitors
• If an answer is not known, contact appropriate staff to help find the answer

Secretarial

• Answer phones and transfer to appropriate person(s)
• Complete data entry tasks as requested by the Executive Director or Associate Director
• Sort files and provide file maintenance tasks during downtime

Open Hours:

• The Lawshe Museum is open year-round
• The Front Desk volunteer will be used Mid-May through September, but may be extended as needed
• Volunteer shifts will be
• Wednesdays: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., or 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
• Thursdays: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Fridays: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., or 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
• Some evenings or weekends may be needed to accommodate special events and/or programs

 If you have any questions, you can reach out via phone (651-552-7548) or email at dakotahistory@co.dakota.mn.us

Organization Overview

The Dakota County Historical Society was founded in 1939 in South St. Paul, Minn. by Fred Lawshe and a group of historically minded individuals. The organization began collecting artifacts to preserve and have on exhibit. Over the years, various museum spaces were in the South St. Paul High School and South St. Paul City Hall. In 1976, Dakota County began the process of building a new museum for Dakota County. The museum officially opened to the public in 1978.

Today, the organization operates three historic sites throughout Dakota County. The Lawshe Museum houses the research library and the archival and artifact collections for the organization. In 2005, DCHS entered into a partnership with the City of Hastings to operate the LeDuc Historic Estate, which includes the LeDuc house, Carriage Barn, Simmons Shed and Ice House. In 2015, the organization entered into a partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society to operate the Sibley Historic Site in Mendota, Minn. The site consists of the Hypolite DuPuis House, Cold Storage, Henry Hastings Sibley House and the Jean Baptiste Faribault House.

DCHS is a 501(c) (3), nonprofit and membership organization that “preserves, interprets and promotes the history of Dakota County.”