Historical Society Membership - Encouraging Broader Participation

I have observed that many community historical societies appear to attract and cater to a retired population. This is understandable since years of age seem to be tied to the level of interest in personal and community history and heritage. It is also no secret that retirees generally have some additional time to volunteer and pursue their personal interests.

I believe there are many opportunities to expand the interest of young residents of a community in the activities of historical societies, and that this expansion of interest can benefit societies in multiple ways. These benefits include long term membership stability or growth, and the overall level of community support for a society's activities.

I suggest a few thoughts here and welcome comments from readers based on their experiences.

• Many off-season gatherings and presentations are scheduled mid-afternoon on weekdays, an inconvenient time for non-retirees. Perhaps substituting or adding a session at a more available time for working adults or teens would attract a broader audience.
• Developing a web presence and providing image galleries can be expected to expand awareness about society activities, and likely increase the overall level of community interest.
• Among the projects for societies described at LocalArchiver.com, there are suggestions for building some bridges to local schools. Any project that includes a conscious effort to get young folks involved in learning about community history can generate some level of additional interest. Project examples might include asking schools for help in developing a logo or web presence design (graphic arts), museum spring cleanup (community volunteer hours), assisting on history class projects (hands on history research), or help with computer cataloguing and indexing of collection images (computer science).