The New-York Historical Society offers internships for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as recent graduates each fall, spring, and summer. In the fall and spring, interns are asked to commit to a part-time schedule of 8-10 hours per week for 10-12 weeks. In the summer, the internship is full-time Monday through Friday 9 AM to 5 PM. Interns may be compensated and/or complete the program for credit if approved by your college.

Internships are available in the following areas:

• Collections – interns in the collections department will assist with museum collection management and registration. Their responsibilities will include assisting with traveling and in-house exhibitions, assisting with recording, cataloguing, organizing, and inventorying the permanent collection, performing weekly preventative care of items in storage, conducting database entry using The Museum System, assisting with dPlan (Disaster Planning for Museum), and assisting with hygrothermographs. Interns must be enrolled in an Art History, Museum Studies, and/or Studio Program with an interest in museum collection management and registration. Seniors and graduate students preferred.
• Communications/Public Relations – interns in the communications department assist staff with the all aspects of communicating with the press and the public, including writing press releases, developing brochure copy, and researching, developing, and implementing marketing and outreach plans.  Interns in this area should have excellent writing and organizational skills. 
• Conservation – interns in the conservation department receive practical hands-on training in book and paper conservation at an intermediate level. This internship is for individuals who have at least a bachelor’s degree and who have 1-2 years of practical experience working in book and paper conservation, or for students currently enrolled in a formal conservation training program.  Interns will undertake and complete a project based on their interests and skills and the needs and capabilities of the Conservation Department. At the end of the internship period, the intern will be required to produce a written report and possibly deliver a presentation of their work.  An interview with the Senior Conservator is required (preferably on-site) and candidates should present a portfolio of completed treatments at that time.
• Development – interns in the development department will assist staff with researching, developing and writing proposals for corporate and governmental funding.  Interns in this area should have excellent writing and organizational skills, be proficient with Excel and Word, and have great attention to detail.
• Education – interns in the education department assist with the creation of school programs and teacher professional development materials and sessions in addition to supplying administrative support.  If you are interested in interning in the education department, in please specify your cover letter the level of education in which you are most interested (elementary, middle school, high school, teacher, or adult learners).  Interns in this area should have excellent writing and organizational skills.
• Graphic Design – interns in the graphic design office assist staff with the creation of visual materials for exhibitions, brochures, and signage.  Interns are responsible for laying out text labels, scanning images, photo correcting and sizing using Photoshop, layouts in InDesign or Illustrator with text and images, and production support on large projects.  Preferably, applicants for this internship should be in at least their 3rd year of a Graphic Design program and should be comfortable using a Mac.  Applicants should have a moderate level of experience with Adobe CS4 (especially Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign) and Microsoft Word. Applicants who are selected for interviews must be prepared to show a design portfolio. 
• Library – interns in the library assist staff with cataloging and research projects.  Internships are available in the Manuscript Department and Print Room.  The responsibilities of the interns in the Manuscript Department will include processing, arranging, and describing archival collections, creating and updating finding aids, marking up finding aids in Encoded Archival Description (EAD) using the Archivists’ Toolkit, and conducting archival research. The intern should be enrolled in an advanced degree program in history, archival administration, or library and information studies.  Previous experience in library or archives preferred.  Maturity, reliability and attention to detail are essential.  Interns in the print room will process a recently acquired collection of photos and documents, and perform various other library-related tasks. Print room interns should be enrolled in a library science or archives program.
• Museum / Curatorial – interns in the museum department assist curators with research and development of materials for upcoming installations, exhibitions, and publications.  If you are interested in interning in the museum department, please specify your area of interest in your cover letter.  Placements are available in the following areas: American Art, Decorative Arts, Drawings and Public History. Seniors and graduate students with strong research skills and a background in the area for which they are applying are preferred.
• Operations – interns in the operations department assist staff with the many aspects of the day-to-day operation of the building, as well as with support for our ongoing capital project.  Interns in this department should have excellent writing and organization skills.  It is preferable that applicants have knowledge of software such as AutoCAD.
• Public Programs –the public programs intern assists staff with the promotion and running of events, including brochure publication production.  Interns in this area should have excellent verbal, written and organizational skills. 
• Visitor Services – interns in the visitor services department assist staff in developing and implementing projects that are designed to improve the quality of the visitor experience in the museum and to make sure that all of our public spaces and exhibitions are accessible. These interns will help to maintain and update our accessibility programming by completing tasks that will include assisting with the production of audio tours to help visually and hearing impaired visitors experience the museum, creating and maintaining Large Print versions of all exhibition text, ensuring that N-YHS is in compliance with ADA regulations, and researching and monitoring industry best practices related to accessibility. Prospective candidates should have an interest in working with the general public and have strong computer skills. Interest or a background in working with disabled individuals is a plus, as are technology skills including audio recording/editing.

To apply for an internship, please submit the following:

• A cover letter that indicates the specific department(s) with which you would like to be placed;
• A resume;
• A five to ten page academic writing sample (candidates for the Graphic Design and Conservation internships are excused from this requirement);
• Two recommendations (at least one from a professor);
• Some applicants may be required to provide a portfolio or other information, but they will be notified of this when they are called for an interview.

All applications must be submitted electronically only.  Please email completed application package to interns@nyhistory.org with your name in the subject line.  The cover letter, resume, and writing sample should be submitted together in one email.  Recommendations must be emailed directly from the recommender to interns@nyhistory.org and should have “Recommendation for Applicant’s Name” as the subject. 

If you have any questions about this program, please contact Betsy Gibbons by email at interns@nyhistory.org or by phone at 212-485-9281.

The New-York Historical Society is currently accepting applications for the Summer 2011 internship program for graduate and undergraduate students and recent graduates.  The summer internship is a full-time program, running Monday through Friday from June 13th through August 5th.  Interns may be compensated for completing this program. The internship may be completed for college credit if approved by your college. Applications are due by 5PM on Friday, March 18, 2011.