Apr

Worth their weight in gold: Two volunteers celebrate 50 years of service

Andrea Lowther introduces us to docents Barbara Lowis Lehmann and Jane Dunphy, both of whom are celebrating 50 years of service at the National Museum of American History this month.

50 Years Each of Learning, Service, and Memories

2020 marks a major milestone for volunteers Jane Dunphy and Barbara Lowis Lehmann: fifty years as docents at the National Museum of American History. Jane started out giving school tours of the transportation and colonial life exhibitions, and now gives walk-in Highlights tours. Barbara’s most cherished time was demonstrating the museum’s power machinery and steam engines through the early 2000s; she currently works as a Spotlights docent interpreting a number of different exhibitions. Having seen so much history unfold at the Smithsonian, we reached out to ask them to share some of their memories of volunteering.

American History Museum docent Jane Dunphy celebrates her 50th year as a Smithsonian volunteer in 2020.
(Photo Courtesy of National Museum of American History)

American History Museum docent Barbara Lehmann celebrates her 50th year as a Smithsonian volunteer in 2020. (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of American History)

The Beginning

Both Jane and Barbara recalled that the Smithsonian’s docent program grew out of a partnership with the Junior League of Washington and was originally run centrally out of the National Museum of Natural History by their chief of education, Joan Madden. Compared to today’s corps of around 200 people, the National Museum of American History docents weren’t a very large group in 1970, “only about 10 or 12 people,” remembered Barbara.

There was a tiny office at American History that volunteers shared with the staff, including “a separate room with a couch where you could take a nap,” Barbara recalled, while Jane remembered having to use public lockers to store their belongings. From this modest start, the program expanded.

Lifelong Learners

Both Jane and Barbara reflected on the training provided by educators, curators, and museum specialists as key to their experience. “It’s been a wonderful continuing education,” Jane shared, explaining that training became more formalized as the program evolved, but that it was always thorough.

Barbara, one of the first docents trained to demonstrate equipment in the Power Machinery Hall, remembered about one session, “One of the guys was a steam engine person, and he thought he could do [the training] in one day. But we asked too many questions! He said he never worked as hard in his life as trying to keep up with the docents.”

Memorable Moments

Even with many years of museum volunteering behind them, Barbara and Jane have some standout memories.

Barbara recalled coming down to the museum to volunteer on a particularly snowy day, expecting the building to be deserted. “I was at one of the steam engines, and had just turned it on when a mother came through with a little girl who was between three and four years old. This little girl asked me more questions! They were there at least 30 minutes. And her questions were good ones! That’s one of my treasured memories.” Barbara also saw her work demonstrating complex machinery as helping to change perceptions about women’s roles for some visitors and staff: “It was one of the most valuable things we did there.”

Jane Dunphy, in costume and character, ready to sell furniture, during “1876: A Centennial Exhibition” at the Arts and Industries Building. (Photo courtesy Jane Dunphy.)
Credit: Photo courtesy of Jane Dunphy

For Jane, one of her most unique experiences came a few years after she started volunteering, when the National Museum of American History trained docents to work in 1876: A Centennial Exhibition, at the Arts and Industries Building. The docents wore period costumes and initially played characters; Jane’s role-playing involved selling furniture. And, she adds, “I must have been good at it, because one day someone wanted to buy a piece of it!” She keeps a special place in her heart for her work with school groups, especially the younger ones. “Always fun working with the children,” Jane shared. “I loved the little ones.”

Embodying the Mission

Having enriched the experiences of thousands of visitors, it’s clear that Barbara and Jane take the Smithsonian’s mission to heart. Being a docent, “What you’re not interested in is small, and what you are interested in is large,” Jane reflected. Plus, in addition to the satisfaction of sharing something new or unexpected with visitors, as Barbara put it simply, “It was such fun.”

Our deepest thanks to Jane and Barbara for their incredible dedication to the Smithsonian, and to the thousands of volunteers who give so generously of their time and talents every year.

You can read more about how Barbara and Jane got started in an article that commemorated their 40^th anniversary, Forty Years of Service, on the NMAH blog, O Say Can You See?

Andrea Lowther is the Deputy Director of Experience Design at the National Museum of American History.