Barrington’s White House, Northern Trust Bank, Kim Duchossois, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center are partnering to host a two week exhibiton and series of events beginning on Tuesday, October 25th and ending on Sunday, November 6th at Barrington’s White House. The exhibition and events allow the visitor to walk in a survivor’s shoes and experience through their eyes the strength and courage that was required to survive genocidal atrocities. Due to the extended nature of this exhibit, we are looking for additional volunteers from the community to help us staff this event. All Stories of Survival volunteers will be trained ahead of time, and there will be multiple volunteers working each shift alongside BWH staff. We hope you will consider volunteering and joining with our staff and BWH volunteers to be greeters, hosts, guides, and docents during the two weeks.
The Stories of Survival exhibit features photographs and images of more than 36 personal artifacts brought to America as families fled persecution and war. It includes moving stories of Chicagoland survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides as told through their everyday, personal belongings (Exhibit on the First Floor). At the same time visitors will be able to hear high-definition interview recordings paired with voice recognition technology, which enables survivors to tell their deeply moving personal stories and respond to questions from the audience, inviting visitors to have a personalized ‘conversation’. This is called Dimensions in Testimony, and at the Museum it is presented as a hologram, we are hosting the 2D version. (Experience on the Third Floor)
For more detailed information on the exhibit and signature events visit barringtonswhitehouse.com/storiesofsurvival
Volunteers will be tasked with welcoming guests to the exhibit, providing them with a brief overview of what is included in the exhibit, guide guests or give directions around BWH. Volunteers will also be responsible for helping guide guests to the interactive virtual survivor stories. At the top of each hour BWH staff will play the 15min welcome video and then facilitate the interactive Q&A, relaying audience questions or asking questions from a provided list. Each session is estimated to be 30-45min. Volunteers are also asked to support staff in replenishing any refreshments and general tidying up.
All volunteer shifts are expected to be 3 to 3.5 hours in length and volunteers will be working as pairs or in groups during their shifts. BWH staff will also be onsite during the exhibit and events to provide oversight and guidance for the volunteers. There will be two general information and training meetings on Wednesday, October 19th to familiarize volunteers with the exhibit and Barrington’s White House. The two identical sessions will be at 11am and 6pm and should be under an hour.
