Table of Contents
Application Materials
To apply for these internships (excluding the research assistant position), please submit the following materials electronically to Michael Milligan (mjm61@psu.edu):
Updated résumé
Cover letter
Short writing sample (preferably from a previous history course)
Letter of recommendation from a Penn State faculty member
Note: It is preferred that the letter come from a faculty member in the Department of History. Recommenders should email their letters directly to Michael Milligan.
Penn State’s Pasto Agricultural Museum StoryMap History Internships
Interested students are urged to submit completed applicants as soon as possible
Penn State’s Pasto Agricultural Museum is seeking TWO highly motivated, well- qualified undergraduate students to take part in challenging internships involving several Pasto Museum projects.
Please contact Museum Director Ms. Rita Graef at rsg7@psu.edu with questions and/or additional details.
Internship opportunities fall into two broad realms, in addition to general service to the Museum:
- Historic research on the farmsteads and families who owned and managed the land that is today the Russell E Larson Agricultural Research Center and home to the Pasto Agricultural Museum and Ag Progress Days event
- GIS and mapping skills applied to create a StoryMap and digital narrative of the many layers of history at the same site
Interns will be paid an hourly wage of $14, funded by the College of Agricultural Sciences—and will work approx. 10 hours per week over the 16-week Spring 2025 semester.
Primary Project Objective
To create an interactive StoryMap that showcases the historical development of the Russell E Larson Agricultural Research Center and delves into the personal histories of the farms and families that once owned the land. Initial investigations will focus on the families and previous landholders; interactive maps showing the transformation of these farms into a leading agricultural research facility; an engaging narrative that combines historical research & spatial analysis for a rich, layered understanding of the land’s legacy.
This team of undergraduate student interns working with the Curator of the Museum will develop a framework and initial content in our project’s first semester. The framework will be constructed in a way to allow the ongoing additions to content in subsequent semesters as staffing allows. Future investigations may include pre-settlement and archeological history of the site.
Expected Outcomes
This project offers undergraduate student interns a unique experience in digital storytelling, combining historical and geographic data to present a compelling narrative of land use and history of agricultural science history at Penn State. The project is constructed to offer a systematic approach and clear objectives to yield a published work object for each intern’s portfolio, while contributing to the digital exhibits offered by the Pasto Agricultural Museum. This first phase will be exhibited to the public during Ag Progress Days, August 12-14, 2025.
Work will include:
Research and Data Collection – Landowner Research. Mapping Historical Farms. Research Center History. Land Use Research.
Structure and Content Development – Outline Creation. Layout, Text, and Media Collection
Drafting and Review
Finalization and Presentation – Final Edits and Enhancements
Additional service to the Museum may include collections care and support, exhibit-label writing, program support and public engagement. This is a University Park campus-based position.
Piper Aviation Museum, Archive Internship
The Museum is located in Lock Haven, PA (30 miles from State College), and houses a substantial collection of planes and artifacts documenting / preserving the history of Piper Aircraft Corporation (light plane manufacturing took place in Lock Haven from 1939-1984). https://www.pipermuseum.com/.
The intern would work closely with the museum manager and collection staff on several ongoing projects (primarily involving the re-organization of the archive and rehabilitation of exhibits). Other responsibilities include day-to-day operations of the museum (group tours, marketing, social media, etc).
For those students interested in finding out more about / pursuing the Piper Aviation Museum internship please contact Gregory Peek of the Penn State History Department ( gap156@psu.edu ).
Black History in Centre County, Pennsylvania, Project, Research Intern
We invite a student to join our team of community and university historians, librarians, geographers, writers, and artists, who aim to collect, assess, and preserve lost narratives of African American residents of Centre County from 1800 through 1950. To shift the experiences of black Centre Countians from the margins to the center of conversations about local history, we seek to digitize and publicize documentary evidence previously available only in hard copy, in specialized archives, or as oral tradition. We aim to learn how African Americans came to Centre County, what their lives were like here, and where those who moved away made new homes.
We seek an intern to work on a project based on the 1900 census list to help discover factors that contributed to the decline of the local Black population in the early twentieth century.
The successful candidate will be able to offer about 20 hours per week in May and early June. They can expect to work with professional public historian Philip Ruth to learn specialized research strategies and techniques used by local historians and genealogists, involving records in both digital and analog formats (such as microfilm, archive catalogues, and maps). Much of the work will be done remotely, but research interns must be willing to use public transportation to travel to and from Bellefonte, if they can’t arrange private transportation.
To find out more about the mission and efforts of the Black History of Centre County Project go to the Project website: https://blkctrco.psu.edu/.
Centre County Historical Society Archives Internship
The Centre Furnace Mansion is located at 1001 East College Avenue, about one mile from Beaver Stadium on the corner of College Avenue and Porter Road.
Timeframe
The Archives Internship is an ongoing Archival Apprenticeship Internship to be offered annually in the Fall, Spring and Summer.
Weekly hourly commitments may range from 10 to 12 hours, specific schedule and time commitment will be negotiated in collaboration with student and advising professor.
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this internship a student should be able to:
- Understand archival theories and applications including appraisal, acquisition and accessioning, arrangement and description, public reference services, legal and policy issues, and preservation
- Understand current issues and challenges effecting the archives profession and its managers
- Understand the importance of records in the information age and the role of records management as a tool and function of an archives program
- Understand current information technologies and the impact electronic records management and digital preservation are having on the profession
- Encourage students to begin thinking critically about strategies for managing the archival record in the 21st century
- Qualifications
Student will possess good writing and communications skills along with a working knowledge of Microsoft programs such as Excel, Word and Adobe programs including InDesign and Photoshop. An interest in history and non-profit work is desirable.
Interns will also be introduced to our Past Perfect Museum database software used in small museums and historic sites to manage contacts and collections. There will be many opportunities to learn about local history and gain an understanding of working in a non-profit historical organization.
Specific Projects
- Assist in the processing of new and existing archival collections
- Participate in and assist in planning for outreach activities including exhibits, tours, classroom presentations, and interactive programming.
Additionally, student interns will be assigned a good number of readings [such as Gregory Hunter, Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives (2018)] among other readings.
Any questions about the internship, seeking more details, you are welcome to email Mary Sorensen, Exec. Director: msorensen@centrefurnace.org.
Lemont Village Association (LVA) “Oral History” internship
The Lemont Village Association is committed to preserving the history of the village of Lemont, where Mount Nittany is located and adjacent to State College, Pennsylvania. Some of the original settlers of the Nittany Valley lived and worked in Lemont.
Pursuant to the goal of preserving / chronicling this local history, the Lemont Village Association seeks a qualified, highly motivated student intern to conduct, in a responsible and conscientious manner, “oral history” interviews with four to six individuals with long-standing ties to Lemont.
The student intern will be responsible for preparing for, carrying out, and transcribing these “oral interviews.”
One end-product for this project is that the intern will write a 500-1000 word article of superior quality to be published in the Association “Newsletter.”
Videography and video editing skills are desired (but not required) since the Association would like to post short portions of the interviews on the website along with the text narrative of the interview. Webpage editing skills are also desired to post interviews to the Association website. We can train people on how to edit the Association website.
“Hearts in the Highlands” Local History Internship
“Hearts in the Highland” (HITH) is an on-line publication, produced by the Highlands Civic Association, which posts articles related to the history, architecture, civic, social, & religious organizations, and people past and present who have made their home in the “Highlands” district of State College.
The “Highlands” is a district of State College bordered by Beaver Avenue, University Drive, Easterly Parkway, and Atherton Street. Learn more on the Highlands Civic Association website and its publication “Hearts of the Highlands“.
The HITH intern will thoughtfully research, study, & write on an engaging and substantive facet of local State College history of particular relevance to the Highlands district.
The internship involves a good deal of independent (but supervised) research on pertinent topics mutually agreed upon by the “Highlands” editor, Prof. Milligan, and the student intern. The intern will write 1 or 2 articles which, in turn, would be prepared for, then likely published (if of requisite quality) in the “Hearts in the Highlands” publication.
Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) Museum History Internship
The EMS Museum is looking for engaged scholars who are interested in learning more about museums and archives. We have several projects with a focus on history and historical objects. Internship opportunities will focus on ONE of FIVE projects, listed below.
PROJECT #1
Creating a digital inventory of the Steidel Collection of American Industrial Art photographs and negatives, including scanning, and rehousing according to museum and archive best practices, to attach to the artwork’s individual records in Past Perfect.
Deliverables
Three blog posts for the EMS website entailing the intern’s project, the importance of proper photo and negative care and handling, and a third topic (tbd).
PROJECT #2
Correlate existing paper records with the historic mining lamp collection as well as conduct research into the brands, styles, and evolution of the lamps. Scan existing documents and create new records while learning museum standards for data management and proper handling techniques for historic objects.
Deliverables
Accession and catalog records for the mining lamps with data, photographs, scanned documents, and historical information all consolidated into one record.
PROJECT #3
Create an exhibit for the museum gallery based on an aspect of the historic equipment collection (mining lamps, microscopes, lab glassware, MSA equipment) that tells the story of an underrepresented group and their use of the equipment (such as LGBTQ+, POC, or other marginalized groups). This internship will involve researching marginalized groups and their contributions to industry. Other elements include writing label copy, exhibit design, exhibit prep, final install, and creation of a marketing piece.
Deliverables
A museum exhibit and a marketing piece featuring historic equipment from the collection that are used to tell the story of the selected group. This exhibit will be developed with input from the College of EMS’s Educational Equity office.
PROJECT #4
Choose and research 4-6 Pennsylvania artists who are represented in the Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art, creating an artist biography, and a history/timeline of those artist’s paintings in the collection.
This project will involve contacting and working with other PA museums, such as the Westmoreland Museum of Art, and the Carnegie Museum of Art for research purposes. (Total number of artists will be determined as we see how much information is available for each artist.)
Deliverables
Complete artist biographies and painting histories for upload into the museums’ Past Perfect database software.
PROJECT #5
“Canary in a Coal Mine” (example title) exhibit. Using historic equipment, art, and rocks/minerals from the EMS Museum collection, create an exhibit highlighting the animal/ human relationships in early mining. This internship will involve research into the lives of miners and the animals, such as horses, mules, and canaries, (including “Old Coaly”) that Pennsylvania miners depended on. Other elements include writing label copy, exhibit design, exhibit prep, final install, and creation of a marketing piece.
Deliverables
A museum exhibit and a marketing piece featuring art, equipment, and geological pieces that tell the story of animals and their humans in mining.
NOTE: EMS collections facility is located 3 miles away from campus and is not on a bus route. Transportation is required.
“Centre County Encyclopedia of History and Culture” Project through the Centre County Historical Society
The CCHS—working closely with faculty / specialists at Penn State—is carrying out a multi-year project to produce an (on-line) Centre County historical encyclopedia, titled, “Centre County Encyclopedia of History and Culture”.
The “Encyclopedia” will cover a wide range of topics, and “Encyclopedia” “entries” will come in 3 forms (short—150 to 250 words; medium—500 to 750 words; long—1,000 to 1,500 words).
Interns will be helpful in contributing to the efforts involved in crafting the “Encyclopedia”: doing historical research; writing entries; assisting on the “digital” side of the enterprise.
Interns must be skilled in historical writing and historical researching and carry a strong interest in the “telling” of local Centre County history. And the research will be heavily weighted towards primary source /archival sources.
Eberly Family Penn State Special Collections Library Part-Time Research Services Assistant
[NOTE: THIS IS A “PAID” “RESEARCH ASSISTANT” POSITION. THIS POSITION IS LIKELY NOT SUITED FOR HISTORY 495 ACADEMIC CREDIT]
Penn State’s Eberly Family Special Collections Library seeks applicants to fill its open Research Services Assistant positions. Working under the general supervision of the Head of Research Services and alongside Special Collections staff, the Research Services Assistant will support reference through multiple outlets, including: interacting with researchers during reference desk shifts (in-person and telephone), supporting remote reference through staff-directed research and scanning, and assisting with daily or long-term assignments to make Special Collections’ materials available and more accessible to researchers.
Work hours are flexible, but are situated between Monday through Friday, 9am-4:30pm. Hours per week: 20-24 (schedule will be determined by mutual agreement with supervisor).
Job Start Date: May 2025
Job End Date: August 2025 with preference for availability through Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters
Job Duties
- Provide researchers with in-person assistance during regularly scheduled reference desk shifts in the Special Collections Library Reading and Reference Rooms.
- Monitor the reading room and use of archival and rare materials during reference desk shifts.
- Retrieve and reshelve archival collections and rare books.
- Contribute to remote reference work through directed research assignments and photoduplication orders.
- Use appropriate tools to locate relevant collection material for researcher use.
- Assist in course-related instruction preparations and activities.
- Participate in Special Collections and University Libraries outreach and engagement events and projects.
- Additional job duties may include project-driven assignments to improve access to collections or allow for more efficient research service.
Requirements and qualifications
- Customer service aptitude
- Attention to detail and problem-solving abilities
- Teamwork and flexibility
- Organizational skills
- Clear communication in both written and verbal formats
- Adept with Microsoft Office software suite, and familiarity with Adobe PDF tools
- Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.
The position application opens April 1, 2025, and Special Collections will begin reaching out to candidates about interviews in mid-late April 2025.
STUDENTS
Keep in mind that you are applying through the Penn State “Workday” Careers platform [follow the application directions therein]; you are not sending application materials to Dr. Milligan. Also note distinctive application due date[s].
For more information and to apply:
https://www.myworkday.com/psu/d/inst/15$392530/9925$176648.htmld