SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
This week, the U.S. will celebrate its 250th anniversary. Among the many ways the semiquincentennial milestone is being marked in Washington, D.C. - a special exhibit at the Smithsonian Castle displaying artifacts like the portable desk where Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. But history is more than objects.
JENNIFER TIMMICK: These things tell the stories of people. Our history is just the stories of things that people say and things that people do, and they fascinate me.
DETROW: That's Jennifer Timmick. She's volunteered at the National Museum of American History since 2013. And for the past few years, Timmick has been giving tours to visitors.
TIMMICK: I always thought those people who give tours are awesome. Someday, I would love to do that. And then I finally got up the courage to do the training and learn the facts and the skills and whatever it is that you need to just walk around and tell stories. And I love, love, love doing it.
DETROW: We accompanied her on a tour for our series on volunteerism called Here to Help.
TIMMICK: Julia Child changes the way we cook, and - yes?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: What's the dog for?
TIMMICK: Oh, the dog. I'm so glad you asked about the dog. The dog's name is Stubby. The dog was also in World War I. He got smuggled over by a soldier who kind of adopted him as his...
This is one of our most popular objects. It's the ruby slippers from "The Wizard Of Oz."
Personally, my role is - I love this museum and I want you visitors also to love it as much as I do. So anything I can do to help you appreciate the awesomeness of what is here. To me, you have to know where you came from to know where you're going. All of these stories of me talking about people who have changed American history, a lot of these are ordinary people.
We used to call it the five-and-dime.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We did.
TIMMICK: It's like a - I mean, it has a little bit of everything, but it also has a lunch counter. If you're shopping...
The Greensboro lunch counter is one of my favorites because the power of those four young men just amazes me, and what they did and the change that they made.
We are in an exhibit called the Presidency, and...
Friday night of the performance, President Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln and their guests take a carriage from the White House to the theater. They actually arrive late. The play has already started.
So, you know, our country has been divided many times. Obviously, it's not just a straight line. We go forward and we go backward, and our country is divided and together all throughout, many times. I know I've done a successful tour if I look back and I see people who were random strangers an hour ago talking to each other. I'm calling that success because to me, if we can just keep talking to each other, then we - we'll be OK.
Thank you all so much for sticking with me. You guys were great.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
TIMMICK: Thank you. Thank you for spending time here with us in this museum. Just by you...
DETROW: Jennifer Timmick is a volunteer at the National Museum of American History. You can find more stories of volunteerism in America at npr.org/heretohelp.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARC DE SOLEIL'S "GOT CAUGHT IN AMSTERDAM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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