THE MUSEUM VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
1992-93 Annual Report
Janet Helman
This will be my last report as the volunteer chairman. Since I began working in the Education Office in 1984, we have seen great growth and change. The Museum Education Program has grown from one paid director and one volunteer to three paid positions and one volunteer. We have moved from the tiny cubicle of room 204 to the relatively spacious room 202. We have entered the computer age and have begun to examine what we do and, quantitatively, how well we do it.
The job of volunteer coordinator will be taken over by Catherine Dueñas and Terry Friedman, who began assuming partial responsibility for the Volunteer Program in January. To both of them, I wish as much pleasure and enrichment as I have enjoyed over the past nine years. They have asked me to remain as consultant to the Volunteer Program for next year, and I have gladly agreed to do it. This means I will still have the opportunity to see and work with you.
Cathy Dueñas has been a member of the Thursday morning team of museum guides since 1985 and has participated in many of our family and public programs. She is also one of our multi-lingual guides who takes Spanish-speaking groups through the Oriental Institute Museum.
Terry Friedman became a docent in 1974 and for the last several years has served as the Tuesday afternoon captain. She is also the originator and organizer of the successful "birthday party" program available to families in the museum.
Terry's place as Tuesday afternoon captain has been assumed by Larry Scheff. This year Alice James assumed the responsibility for captaining Tuesday morning, in place of Alice Rubash. Other captains who served through this year are:
- Wednesday a.m. - Nina Longley and JoAnn Putz
- Wednesday p.m. - Lilian Cropsey and William Boone
- Thursday a.m. - Kitty Picken
- Thursday p.m. - Elizabeth Spiegel
- Friday a.m. - Debbie Aliber
- Friday p.m. - Gloria Orwin
- Saturday a.m. - Georgie Maynard
- Saturday p.m. - Melanie Petroskey and Carole Yoshida
- Sunday - Teresa Hintzke, Steven Ritzel, and Janet Russell
With all three volunteer coordinators working together, we trained our largest class of docents in many years. We are pleased to welcome to our ranks:
- Bernadine Basile
- Jane Belcher
- Erl Dordal
- Bettie Dwinell
- Lewis Ginsberg
- Irene Glasner
- Mildred Goldin
- Ira Hardman
- Mike Loveless
- Johanna Lucas
- Roy Miller
- Kathy Mineck
- Ken Moore
- Denise Paul
- Diane Posner
- Deloris Sanders
- Bernadette Strnad
- Annette Teaney
- Jane Thain
- Eve Weinberg
The docent course was taught this year by Lanny Bell, Tony Brinkman, Harry Hoffner, John Larson, Mark Lehner, Rick Schoen, William Sumner, Emily Teeter, Bruce Williams, and Karen Wilson. Our thanks go to all of them for their efforts and their time.
Our usual activities, Docent Days and Docent Digests, were extended by a trip this year to Cleveland to see the exhibit, "Egypt's Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III and His World." All our arrangements were made by docent/travel agent Anita Eller, whose skills are most welcome. A large group of docents led by Ray Johnson enjoyed a great exhibit, beautiful weather, and a wonderful weekend.
Docent Day programs this year included a talk by Carole Krucoff, who introduced herself and her ideas to us, a tour of the basement area with Laura D'Alessandro and Ray Tindel, and a talk by Peter Piccione about his Theban tomb project. Bill Sumner reported to us in January about the state of the building project, and Karen Wilson took us through the Assyrian gallery. Frank Yurco gave a program on Hatshepsut and Cathy Dueñas did a gallery talk, "The Emancipated Women of Ancient Egypt."
We also had a gala lunch party to celebrate the 100th birthday of original docent Ida De Pencier, who is a role model for many of us and to whom we wish many happy returns.
I want to express my thanks to all the faculty and staff of the Oriental Institute who contribute so much to the Volunteer Program and who have made my job so enjoyable. I also want to acknowledge the great pleasure I derived from my association with the Education Office and to thank Joan Barghusen with whom I worked for so many years and Carole Krucoff, who in the last year has brought new enthusiasm as well as new programs to our office. The other members of our office staff, Terri Barbee and Kaylin Goldstein, who do so much for the docents, have become treasured friends.
My greatest thanks, however, go to the volunteers who come in every week and make it possible for the Oriental Institute Museum to continue to present as many public programs as we do. Besides those programs that are presented by the Museum Education Program, the docents led 21,892 people on tours through the museum in 1991-92. That represents a 10% increase over 1990-91, which is the first year our computers allowed us to begin collecting data.
The docents do their jobs efficiently and dependably making it possible to schedule large numbers of highly varied groups, many of whom have been returning every year to see the Oriental Institute Museum. They present the Oriental Institute to an ever-growing public and are our best ambassadors.
Regularly Scheduled Docents
- Nancy Baum
- Christel Betz
- Dorothy Blindt
- William Boone
- Teddy Buddington
- Charlotte Collier
- Catherine Dueñas
- Anita Eller
- Gordon Evison
- Marilyn Fellows
- Esther Fifield
- Shirley Freundlich
- Joan Friedmann
- John Gay
- Betty Geiger
- Anita Greenberg
- Mary Grimshaw
- Marsha Holden
- Barbara James
- Samantha Johnson
- George Junker
- Mary Jo Khuri
- Barbara Klawans
- Betsy Kremers
- Judy Licata
- Kay Matsumoto
- Caryl Mikrut
- Dorothy Mozinski
- Jean Niblack
- Carolyn Payer
- Rita Picken
- Dawn Prena
- Patrick Regnery
- Barbara Rollhaus
- Joan Rosenberg
- Alice Rubash
- Norman Rubash
- Laura Sanchez
- Lawrence Scheff
- Anne Schumacher
- Lillian Schwartz
- Mary Shea
- Daila Shefner
- Bernie Shelley
- Richard Watson
- Beverly Wilson
Substitute Docents
- Betty Baum
- Margara Foorman
- Barbara Frey
- Peggy Grant
- Bud and Cissy Haas
- Alice Mulberry
- Muriel Nerad
- Mary D'Ouville
Suq Docents
- Muriel Brauer
- Lois Cohen
- Charlotte Collier
- Barbara Frey
- Bette Goldberg
- Peggy Grant
- Janet Helman
- Jane Hildebrand
- Ruth Hyman
- Jo Jackson
- Carol High Johnson
- Inger Kirsten
- Peggy Kovacs
- Lorraine Kubiak
- Agnethe Rattenborg
- Rochelle Rossin
- Mary Schulman
- Anne Schumacher
- Mardi Trosman
- Norma Vandermeulen
- Barbara Watson
Museum Archives Volunteers
- Kay Ginther
- Sandra Jacobsohn
- Carolyn Livingood
- Melanie Petroskey
- Joan Rosenberg
Registrar's Office Volunteers
- Debbie Aliber
- Michelle Biehl
- Judy Cherchi
- Debbie Darnell
- Aimee Drolet
- Anita Eller
- Leila Foster
- Peggy Grant
- Mary Grimshaw
- Georgie Maynard
- Eric Poryles
- Lillian Schwartz
- Nicole Simpson
- Carolyn Swain
- Peggy Wick
Photography Lab Volunteers
- Maria Ahlstrom
- David Deckert
Education Office Librarian
- Debbie Aliber
Ceramics Restoration
- Elizabeth Tieken
Assistant to Epigraphic Survey
- Diana Grodzins
Assistants to the Prehistoric Project
- Diana Grodzins
- Andrée Wood
Suq Office and Stock Room Volunteers
- Georgie Maynard
- Eleanor Swift
Membership Office Volunteers
- Charlotte Collier
- JoAnn Putz
Hittite Dictionary Project Volunteer
- Irv Diamond
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