National and State Register of Historic Places Diversity Internship
Internship Location: Hybrid remote/on location at the History Colorado Center, Denver, CO
Stipend: Intern will receive a stipend of $4000. The stipend is not salary or compensation. The stipend is meant to support study and research during the tenure of the appointment and will be issued upon completion of the internship. Qualified candidates may receive academic credit through their college or university.
Apply by: February 7, 2022
History Colorado is committed to anti-racism practices across its institution and outlined in these grounding virtues. As such, we encourage members of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) LGBTQ+ and persons with disabilities communities to apply for this internship.
Desired Schedule: 5-10 hours/week, date/time flexible, February– October 2022. (Applicants must be prepared to complete the internship remotely with some in-person work at archives, collections, and on-site). (Intern will also need to meet virtually one Friday a month for a History Colorado Intern Cohort group where they will gain knowledge of the institution and network with other interns.)
Broad Scope of Position: History Colorado is seeking two interns to work with the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s Preservation Planning Unit. While History Colorado has taken major steps towards adding more BIPOC-related resources to both the National and State Register over the last decade, the numbers of resources listed in the categories of African-American, Hispano, Native American, and Asian American history remain proportionally low. In the interest of telling the full history of Colorado’s built environment, History Colorado’s Preservation Planning Unit seeks to engage interns to assist in updating existing National and State Register nominations to expand the listed areas of significance. Research may require visiting archives, including the Denver Public Library Western History Collection, Stephen H. Hart Research Library, and repositories within local communities.
Outcomes: This internship is designed to engage a student or emerging professional in preservation planning. The chosen intern will complete updates to at least one chosen National or State Register nomination to expand its areas of significance to include African-American, Hispano, Native American, or Asian American history. Students will develop critical research skills such as archive and database use, and will gain competency with resources at information repositories in Denver and in the chosen focal area. By the end of the internship, intern will learn all of the steps involved in writing a nomination and going through the approval process with the Board.
Timeline:
- Spend 5-10 hours a week on drafting, researching, and editing a National or State Register nomination, chosen from a list of nominations in need of updates and additional data (February through June)
- Spend 5-10 hours a week reviewing existing data from the National and State Register survey process, OAHP archives, and databases, to identify potential future nominations in need of additional data (June through September)
- Give a presentation of the completed nomination to the Colorado State Review Board in September 2022
- Complete edits to the National or State Register nomination following Review Board comments (October 2022)
Desired Skills & Academic Field of Study: Undergraduate, graduate student, and recent graduates with focus in History, American Studies, Architecture, Planning, Civil/Structural Engineering or other related fields. The successful candidate will be a creative, self-motivated, and intellectually curious individual committed to the mission of History Colorado to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past.
Additional skills:
- Preferred experience in community storytelling, historic preservation, museums/cultural institutions, or history projects
- Experience in English-language writing and research required
- Computer word processing skills required
To Apply for this Position: Submit a cover letter addressing your interest in the project, a CV or resume including two references with contact details, and your answer to the question below to Director of Volunteer Engagement Emily Dobish, emily.dobish@state.co.us.
As a response to the recent national protests regarding systemic injustice, History Colorado staff came together during the months of July and August to discuss as an institutional community the ways in which History Colorado can advance the work of anti-racism. These Grounding Virtues are the result of our collective process.
Please click here: https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2020/AntiRacism_Grounding_Virtues.pdf.
Answer this question: How have these guiding principles shown up in your previous work and /or how would you contribute to these virtues in your internship position at History Colorado?
**A condition of employment is the successful completion of a background check.