Internships are a great opportunity for students to get an idea of the possible careers available to them. See what opportunities are available through the History Department and what former Xavier students have to say about their experiences!
HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION INTERNSHIP
Xavier University's Department of History and the Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) are please to announce a collaboration for internships at the collection's storied French Quarter location. The Collection's website notes that interns will "benefit from completing professional work assignments, taking advantage of educational opportunities, and immersing themselves in the day-to-day workings of a busy museum, research center, and publisher. The internship director manages the internship program, and interns are supervised, mentored, and coached by staff members who ensure that the interns have a solid professional and educational experience."
For more information, please see the or contact Dr. Elizabeth Manley at emanley1@xula.edu.
AMISTAD RESEARCH CENTER INTERNSHIPS
Student interns work under the supervision of the Director of Processing in the arranging, preservation and description of archival records, papers and collections. In the Spring of 2009 the History Department saw the fulfillment of a long-deferred dream of an agreement with the Amistad Research Center for an internship program for Xavier Students. Since then, six Xavier history majors have completed internships at Amistad and, without exception, they have said their internship was among their most rewarding experiences as a Xavier student. Our first intern in 2009, Chianti Dorsey, was assigned to a manuscript processing project in which included the arrangement, preservation and description of the papers of Homer McEwen who was a minister in the United Church of Christ, member of the Board of Trustees of Dillard University, and played an active role in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the Civil Rights Movement. Chianta's internship experience led her to pursue a career as an archivist. Today she holds a dual master's in History and Library Information Science from Simmons College in Boston, MA and is Reference Archivist at the Amistad Research Center.
For more information, please contact Dr. Elizabeth Manley at emanley1@xula.edu or see the Amistad Research Center's Website.
We also support internships at the , the , the Hermann-Grima and Gallier Historic House (link to ), and the Ashé Cultural Arts Center (link to: ) among others! For more information, please get in touch with Dr. Elizabeth Manley at emanley1@xula.edu.
The Department of History also supports students in a variety of summer programs, including the National Museum for African American History and Culture Internship Program (link to: ) and the University of Georgia’s History Summer Fellows Institute.
New History Internships
Xavier’s Department of History Department is excited to announce that it this spring it placed students in four new internships across the city, including at the Ashé Cultural Center, the World War II Museum, Preservation Hall, and the Herman-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses. These are in addition to long-standing relationships that the department has with the Amistad Research Center, the Historic New Orleans Collection, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. At the Ashé Cultural Center, senior Tia Coleman is working closely with Professor Al Kennedy and members of Ashé to prepare their historic archival files for donation to the Amistad Research Center. Researching the history of the building and its occupants, Dawn Johnson will provide Preservation Hall with rich materials for their educational and public history efforts. Learning multiple aspects of museum and public-facing history, Tia Melton is devoting time to the two historic houses - as well as their embedded histories of urban slavery - at the Herman-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses. Finally, Katie Byrd is working with curator and education specialist Rob Wallace at the World War II museum to prepare STEM-related historical materials for their History Day project. We could not be more proud of our students! The department is continuing its expansion of internship opportunities and welcomes any students interested in pursuing hands-on learning in archival, museum, and all public-facing history endeavors!
Tia Coleman and Tiberni Hall (History 2021)
Last summer, history majors Tia Coleman and Tiberni Hall participated in an intensive internship program at the University of Georgia. Tia Coleman reported "I learned so much about the mechanics of becoming and being a historian. Graduate faculty members, professionals, and community activist helped teach us how to trace historical development in a particular field, analyze and interpret historical data, learn how to prepare publications and exhibits, or review those prepared by others in order to ensure their historical accuracy, interview people to gather information about historical events and how to record oral histories, and how to collaborate with other historians and professionals from other disciplines to form a solid foundation for historical research."
Edward Wiggins (History, 2020)
Edward Wiggins was awarded an internship at the Atlanta History Center last summer. The Center boasts several locations including the Swan House, where Hunger Games: Catching Fire was filmed, and the Margaret Mitchell House, which memorializes the author of Gone with the Wind. Edward had the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of a museum and archive, not unlike his experience working with the primary sources in the Historic New Orleans Collection during his course, HIST 2415: Introduction to Historical Research and Writing.