Beltrami County Historical Society seeks board members, volunteers

Board seats at the Beltrami County Historical Society carry real weight in Bemidji: they help govern the History Center and Museum, the archives, research room, special exhibits, publications and gift shop inside the historic Great Northern Depot at 130 Minnesota Ave. SW.

The society, founded Jan. 26, 1952, says it is recruiting new board members and volunteers to keep that work going. Its mission is to collect, preserve and share the history of the people, land and stories of Beltrami County, and it says that mission depends heavily on community leadership rather than government support.

That funding picture makes the recruitment especially important. In a 2025 post, the society said it receives no operational funding from the state or federal government. The same post said a $7,500 annual county allocation represented about 7.5% of its annual operating budget, a share the group described as critical.

The society has already shown how much board service can shape the county’s history infrastructure. Andy Mack served on the board from 2004 until his retirement in January 2022, and the society credits his leadership and effort with helping rescue the Great Northern Depot from demolition and restore it in partnership with the City of Bemidji.

The board’s role is not symbolic. At the society’s 2024 annual meeting, members reviewed the past year, discussed upcoming and long-term initiatives and elected new board members. That is the kind of governance that keeps the organization moving from one year to the next, while also setting priorities for preservation work, programming and public access to local records.

The society’s website also points residents to a Volunteer Hub, signaling that the work behind the scenes is broad and ongoing. For Bemidji and the rest of Beltrami County, the stakes are concrete: without enough board and volunteer leadership, the society could struggle to sustain exhibits, archive access, research services and preservation work at the depot, where local history is collected, stored and shared every day.