The Eastside Heritage Center in partnership with the City of Bellevue has been documenting and preserving the oral histories of the citizens of Bellevue for decades in order to preserve our unique local history. The bulk of our collection is recorded on audio tapes. As audio cassettes are becoming obsolete and degrading to the point of being unable to be played, we are currently focusing on converting our collection to digital files for easy exploration by researchers. Go to https://www.eastsideheritagecenter.org/ to learn more about our organization.
There are to opportunities to be involved with our Oral History projects. One is in-person and the other is in-person or remote.
- Oral History Tape Digitization – Digitizing physical cassette tapes by converting the recordings to digital audio file. Requires training with cassette device. Work done in-person at McDowell House. (Can be paired with transcription.)
- Oral History Transcription Volunteers - For many years the EHC has been involved in a series of oral history projects that worked to preserve the personal histories of hundreds of people on the Eastside. Eastside Heritage Center is seeking help with transcribing these Oral Histories. This volunteering can be done remotely.
This volunteer position is a good introduction for students looking to learn about museum work, archives and collections, and local history. Hours are flexible and we are open to hosting students for more or less of the listed time. Volunteers will need:
- Access to a computer
- Attention to detail
- Excellent written English-language skills
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office or other Word Processing software
