Sarah S. Elkind
Public History Internships
As a
history major, you can satisfy your History 450w requirement with an internship
at a museum, archive, or historical site.
SDSU interns have helped organize archival collections, inventoried
museum artifacts, designed educational programs for school children, and worked
as history tour guides for the state parks. It's a terrific way to try out a career, gain work
experience, and finish off your history major, all at the same time.
Internships
are always available at Old Town State Historic Park, Lambda Archives, and the
Nixon Presidential Library (Yorba Linda).
They can frequently also be arranged at the Maritime Museum, Museum of
Man, San Diego History Center, San Diego City Clerk's office, SDSU's Special
Collections, Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum (Vista), and many other places
around the county.
As an intern, you will complete 150 hours of
work at a historical site or library.
Your site provides training and evaluates your work. Your internship should be focused on
history (as opposed to other kinds of work experience) and should teach you
something. Ideally, each intern
will have a specific project of their own to develop from beginning to end. At the end of your internship, you will
write a report about the work that you did. If you develop educational programs, you will also assemble
a binder explaining your program, with a summary of your research and
bibliography of sources. Other
types of internships are likely to require other written assignments. All internships
at non-profit and government agencies are unpaid.
Who can sign up for a History 452 internship?
Registration for History 452 is
only possible during the Spring semester.
You may complete your internship hours and written work at any time of
the year. Email Dr. Elkind (selkind@mail.sdsu.edu)
for more information. But first,
fill out the internship application form and drop
it off at my office (Arts and Letters 532).
Types of Internships:
Teaching and developing educational programs:
Old Town Interpretation:
Old Town State Park was established near the
site of California's first Spanish settlement, and attempts to recreate life in
California from the 1820s to the 1870s.
The park consists of a number of original and reconstructed wood and
adobe buildings, furnished much as they would have been in the nineteenth
century. Internships at Old Town
are likely to appeal to students interested in museum and park interpretation,
teaching and anyone who is interested in nineteenth century California
history. Interpretation interns
design and present educational programs to school groups and the general
public. All summer interns will be
assigned to Old Town.
San Diego Museum of Man:
The San Diego Museum of Man is a cultural and
physical anthropology museum in Balboa Park that focuses on collecting,
preserving, and interpreting evidence of human development, creativity, and
artistic expression throughout the history of humankind. Interns at the Museum of Man develop
and present school programs and work on special projects with the education
department. This is a very good
internship for students interested in museum education or teaching. The Museum of Man can accommodate only one
or two interns at a time, so if you are interested in an internship here, see
me early.
San Diego History Center:
The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park is dedicated to
helping people of all ages learn about, and enjoy, the history of San Diego,
and to appreciate how our past, present, and future are interrelated. Interns at the History Center help the
museum's Education Department develop new public and school programs. Some interns also have the opportunity
work with school groups, or participate in exhibit design. This is a particularly good internship
for students interested in a career in museum education, exhibit design, or
teaching. The San Diego History
Center can only accept one intern at a time, so see me early if you are
interested in working here.
Nixon Presidential Library:
The Nixon Presidential Library, in Yorba Linda
(Orange County) is now part of the National Archives. Interns here develop and give tours to school groups
visiting the library, and may also help with archival projects. This internship will appeal to students
who are interested in twentieth century political history and foreign
policy. You must be willing to
drive to Orange County.
We are also developing internships at the San
Diego Maritime Museum. You are
welcome to develop an internship elsewhere, but you must get my approval before
you begin. I will only approve
internships that use and enhance your historical knowledge and skills, and that
teach you something.
Archives and Libraries:
Antique Gas and Steam Engine
Museum, Vista:
Founded in 1969, the Antique Gas and Steam
Engine Museum is a private, non-profit museum that collects, preserves and
displays machinery and crafts from late-nineteenth and early twentieth century
American farms and rural communities.
The museum is operated almost exclusively by volunteers, many of whom
have astounding mechanical knowledge of steam, diesel and internal combustion
engines. The museum has operating
steam tractors, steam engines, antique gas and diesel machinery, threshers, a
saw mill, blacksmiths, a grist mill and a building full of looms. Annual special events at the museum
include Tractor Shows, several music festivals and Civil War reenactments.
Internships at AGSEM will appeal to students
who are interested in America's rural history, who like antique equipment and
hand crafts, who work independently, and who are looking for an internship in
North County. AGSEM needs interns
to help organize archives and manage collections. This is best for someone who is interested in a career in
libraries or archives.
Lambda Archives of San Diego:
Lamda Archives is the main archive collecting
information about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities in the
San Diego/Tijuana region. Archival
collections include organizational records (e.g. The Center, or Chris KehoeÕs
political campaign,) personal collections of activists or community records,
art, photographs, memorabilia, etc.
The archive is located in University Heights, San Diego. Interns at Lambda Archives organize
archival or book collections, and sometimes help design historical
displays. This is a particularly
good internship for students interested in LGBT history and in librarianship.
SDSU Special Collections:
San Diego State's Special Collections holds a
wide variety archival collections, rare books and university archives. Interns here help process archival
collections. This is a very good
internship for students interested in archival work, but because of budget cuts,
Special Collections can only supervise one intern at a time. Contact me early if you want to work
here.
San Diego City Clerk:
The City Clerk's office collects and maintains
all official records for the City of San Diego. Interns at the City Clerk's office help keep these records
organized, and make them more available to the public. Recent projects have included scanning
cemetery records, and putting the city charter revisions on line. This internship is well suited to
students interested in government and politics, or archival collections.
I hope to develop additional archival internships
at the San Diego History Center and at the County Law Library.
Special Projects:
E
Clampus Vitus is
looking for an intern to help them develop a history scholarship program.
The
San Diego Lifeguard Association needs interns to help researching the authoritative
history of lifeguarding in San Diego.
This research will be incorporated into a book to be published in the
next couple of years.
Testimonials from recent interns:
"The best thing about these internships
is learning new skills and interacting with the children. It was more rewarding than I could have
imagined and I will continue to volunteer as long as I have free time. É You don't need any specific skills so
much as you need willingness to learn and the patience that goes along with
it."
"The best thing about this internship was
the opportunity for a history major to actually do something concrete in the
actual field!"
"[We got] to see the games we had worked
on so hard [develop] into lasting programs that the kids and teachers rave
about. Receiving compliments week
after week from the staff at the school and in Old Town, and being wanted right
away to move into a paying job, was very rewarding."