Resources describing the tradition and accomplishments of volunteers in the past.
Rediscovering and Sharing Our History of Volunteers,
Energize, Inc. encourages all efforts by organizations and communities to celebrate volunteers today by showcasing them as the current step in a continuum of volunteer action from the past and therefore the next step to future service. This is a great way to recognize volunteers and educate the public about their importance. This guide gives you great ideas for creating a volunteer history project of your own -- plus real-life examples from colleagues.
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2014,
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"Anti" Volunteerism Positions and Arguments
Archival Collection of Ivan H. Scheier
IvanScheier was one of the most instrumental and forward-thinking leaders in the volunteerism field for over three decades. Before his death in 2008, Ivan gave more than 700 pages of his innovative writings, most out of print and only available online, to Regis University. This remains a remarkable trove of cutting-edge ideas, notably about volunteer-employee relations and the role of the volunteer resources manager.
Codes of Ethics
The Chronicle of Philanthropy has compiled this list of online resources for creating codes of ethics.
Digital Collections of IUPUI University Library
Archival material from the IUPUI University Library's Philanthropy Resources Online collection. Search keywords such as "volunteering," philanthropy," etc. Many journals from the 1960s-1990s have been digitized online here, so anyone looking for older material and historical archives can find treasures.
Giving and Volunteering in the Americas
From the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, this complete online journal issue contains more than 30 articles by various authors on some aspect of philanthropy, volunteering, corporate social responsibility, and more in Central and South American countries (particularly Brazil, Peru, and Mexico).
Helping the Poor: Friendly visiting, dole charities and dole queues
155-page PDF by Robert Whelan for Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society, London, 2001, examining the roots of organized charity in England from the "volunteer person of leisure" to paid social workers.
Project Volunteer.cz
The English-language site of the volunteer resource center in the Czech Republic on which there are several provocative articles about the meaning of volunteering in socialist and formerly-communist countries.
Schools of Citizenship: Charity and Civic Virtue
70-page PDF by Frank Prochaska for Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society, London, 2002, thoughtfully examining the history of voluntary collective action in Britain versus the rise of the welfare state.
The Serious Leisure Perspective
Canadian academic William A. Stebbins has devoted his career to studying the connection of leisure to work and volunteering,as well as professional to amateur. The site offers a wealth of materials, including a Digital Library of many articles.
Print and e-Books in Our Store
Revised in 2005, this book remains the only presentation of the full scope and depth of volunteer activity throughout three centuries of American history.
A collection of favorite and most-requested presentations from Marlene Wilson, volunteer management pioneer and leader in the field.
A set of a dozen articles rediscovering the lost volunteer history of key volunteer organizations and individuals.
History Project Team in Australia
Submitted by Sallie Davies, Volunteering Western Australia
Volunteering Western Australia will launch its history in June. Prepared by the History Project Team over the past 4 years this story is told by the people who have lived it. It is a story of vision, commitment and fulfillment. To those who have lived it, it is exciting and factual. To volunteers and people working with them, it is a message of hope for the future.
A grant to commemorate the Centenary of Federation in Australia has made publication possible in this International Year of Volunteers. This grant reflects the spirit of those volunteers who pioneered settlement in Australia and reminds us that volunteers are the spirit of community. Volunteers,indeed, can change the world.
Medical Center Auxiliary Celebrates 40 Years
Submitted by Shelly Berger, Administrative Assistant and Auxiliary Liaison, Greene County Medical Center, Iowa, USA
The Greene County Medical Center Auxiliary, Jefferson, Iowa, celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. We compiled our history and showed it off with displays and brochures. We even sewed and displayed quilt blocks from past quilts that have been raffled by our organization. We then held an open house that featured these displays and tours of departments where our organization donated funds for specific equipment and furnishings. Refreshments were served and commemorative pens were given.
This event got us busy and worked on compiling our history. Before that, we had bits and pieces, but this really pulled it together. The volunteers worked very hard to get ready for this event, with very little help from our staff. It was a fun celebration.
Sharing Our History of Volunteers
At Energize, we have a special interest in documenting the history of volunteers. Our president, Susan J. Ellis, co-authored the book: By the People: A History of Americans as Volunteers, New Century Edition. We encourage all organizations and collaborative efforts to celebrate volunteers today by showcasing them as the current step in a continuum of volunteer action from the past and therefore the next step to future service. This is a great way to recognize volunteers and educate the public about their importance. [You can also read Susan's original "Hot Topic" introducing this idea and see what colleagues said in reply.] On this page, we share how others have celebrated the history of their volunteers, plus provide links to pages that can help you develop or share your projects.
Volunteers and Their History
Submitted by Tina Branco, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, VA, USA
As part of our celebration of 100 years of service, we are combing our archives to produce a complete history, and we asked each of our 54 offices around the world to produce a quilt square. Volunteers then put the quilt together and it is now "touring" our offices so volunteers can see the results of their efforts. Story and picture are also posted on our web site www.nmcrs.org
Submitted by Frank Pomata, NY,USA
The coalition of volunteer managers and their agencies on Long Island that came together originally to celebrate IYV2001 decided to remain together and have focused their efforts on creating a "VOLUNTEER HALL OF FAME." The initial honorees were all founders of their respective non-profit/volunteer-driven groups and were recognized at a ceremony in November 2002 at Stony Brook University. A trade-show style display was donated by Fleet Bank and will be touring various venues around Long Island during 2003 to help spread the word about the honorees, as well as the Hall of Fame itself. A calendar featuring the honorees has been printed and is being distributed at this time. We're gearing up for this year's nominations and ceremony too. Just curious -- Does anyone know of any other VOLUNTEER Halls of Fame, in the US or elsewhere??
Last Updated: March 4, 2015
