House Host

Start Date: Training June 6th & 20th, service start in July

Do you love Victorian mansions or early Minnesota history? Want to share that passion and knowledge with the world? Apply to be a House Host at the Alexander Ramsey House! 

House Hosts serve as ambassadors to the Alexander Ramsey House (ARH) and the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS). They create a safe welcoming atmosphere, assist with wayfinding, answer questions, and provide information to visitors. 

Service Summary:

This is a dynamic volunteer opportunity. Hosts rotate hourly during their shift. This includes:

• Serving as greeters on the 1st floor
• Connect visitors to life in the house by facilitating an interactive activity
• Roving through all three floors to be a friendly presence in exhibit areas

Time Commitment: 

House Hosts are needed on the first Saturday of every month from either 9:30am - 1:30pm or 1pm - 5pm. 

This is an indoor opportunity.

House Hosts are required to attend two training sessions (June 6th and June 20th). Both sessions are two hours long.

House Host Volunteers Should Be:

• Friendly, courteous, outgoing, and respectful 
• Able to make visitors feel welcome - answer questions in a pleasant manner
• Interested in meeting folks of all backgrounds, abilities, and ages - especially children
• Able to understand and react to the various ways that visitors, especially children, respond and learn in an informal setting
• Clear communicators
• Punctual and dependable - able to commit to an agreed upon schedule
• Detail oriented, observant, and safety minded
• Able to achieve acceptable results on reference checks and a criminal background check (at no cost to volunteers)
• Willing to learn how to register for and sign in/out of volunteer shifts on a computerized system
• Interested in historic landscapes or the Ramsey family

Accessibility Information: 

Please view accessibility information about the ARH in the link below. If you need accommodation to participate, reach out - let’s chat. 

Alexander Ramsey House Accessibility Information

Training:

If selected, House Hosts are required to attend two in-person training sessions (June 6th and June 20th). Both are two hours in length and are at the Alexander Ramsey House.

Volunteer Perks:

We love our volunteers! Active MNHS volunteers receive rewards and other perks. Special events, educational opportunities, and discounts are just some of the ways we recognize our volunteers.

House Host Volunteers at the Alexander Ramsey House will explore Minnesota history and the Minnesota Historical Society. This is an opportunity to discover and explore the daily operations of a Historic House while interacting with visitors in a variety of ways. A person in this position provides a presence at the most opportune moment in the visitors' entire museum experience, their arrival; and as such, serves as a good-will ambassador not only for the programs of the ARH but MNHS as a whole. With over 14,000 original furnishings in the home a person is helping to preserve and protect the Alexander Ramsey House for future generations.

Free parking is available for volunteers during their time of service. 

Perks for all active volunteers can be viewed on the bottom of the MNHS Volunteer News webpage.