The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, offers a full-time, 10 week, archival internship opportunity for one graduate student for summer 2019. The internship stipend is $6,000. Housing, benefits, and transportation are not provided.
The internship will:
● Enable new professionals to understand, identify, and manage the historical records of American invention and innovation;
● Expose interns to the Museum’s rich historical collections in the history of technology and 20th century material culture;
● Provide hands-on experience with archival collections that document invention and innovation;
● Create EAD finding aids to collections documenting invention and innovation using ArchivesSpace; and
● Engage interns in discussion of archival issues and practices and provide a wide range of professional experiences within the Museum.
The Application Process
Applicants must apply through the Smithsonian online application system (SOLAA). Internships are located in the Museum’s Archives Center, a manuscripts and special collections repository with more than 1,400 collections documenting a wide range of subject areas and a full time staff of eleven. Interns must be enrolled in a graduate degree program and have completed graduate course work in archival, library, or information management, and/or graduate course work in American history, American Studies, Museum Studies, Public History, or another area that relates to the history of invention and innovation in American society. Recent graduates may also apply.
Complete applications must include the following:
● Internship Program application form in SOLAA;
● Undergraduate and graduate transcripts (unofficial transcripts are acceptable);
● Cover letter and resume;
● Essay discussing your interest in the archival profession and working with invention-related materials; and
● Two (2) letters of reference.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult the Archives Center’s Internship FAQ when completing this application.
Applications must be submitted via the SOLAA system by 11:59 p.m. EST on March 1, 2019. Offers will be made by April 8, 2019. The internship begins on or after June 3, 2019. Because of high user volumes, the SOLAA website may exhibit poor performance on the afternoon/evening of March 1. Please plan ahead!
For further information, consult the FAQ or contact: Alison L. Oswald, Archivist National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution Archives Center, Room 1100, MRC 601 P.O. Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 Phone (202) 633-3726 Fax (202) 312-1990. Email oswalda@si.edu