What are the responsibilities and job description for the Graduate Student Intern - history.org position at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation?
Who We Are
Founded in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a private, not-for-profit educational, historic, and cultural institution that owns and operates one of the largest and best-known museum complexes in the world. Our mission is “that the future may learn from the past” through preserving and restoring 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. We engage, inform, and inspire people to learn about this historic capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape a new nation.
Today, Colonial Williamsburg is the largest living history museum in the U.S. The Historic Area is the 301-acre restored colonial capital with 88 original buildings and 525 buildings reconstructed to how they appeared in the 18th century through extensive archaeological, architectural, and documentary research. The Historic Area is staffed by highly trained, historically dressed interpreters and expert tradespeople who bring the 18th century to life. The Foundation also owns and operates two world-class museums, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute, and a renowned research library, the John D Rockefeller Jr Library.
Additionally, Colonial Williamsburg is home to five world class accommodations at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge Autograph Collection, the Griffin Hotel, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotels and Suites and the unique Colonial Houses in the Historical Area. Visitors may also indulge in food and drink at our many on site restaurants and taverns that blend a historically inspired dining experience with today’s evolved tastes. Each year over 5 million people visit Williamsburg and another 20 million engage with us digitally.
About The Position
history.org offers teachers curated collections of items and learning assets from the nation’s leading museums and civic education organizations along with a library of over 500 short, animated videos introducing key topics and concepts in American history and civics. Connected analysis guides and instructional resources support teachers and innovative site functionality meets them where they are, empowering them to engage with a broad variation of primary sources to ignite curiosity, foster historical thinking skills, and deepen content knowledge.
We are seeking a motivated intern to assist with the development of this platform. The intern will be responsible for uploading and organizing digital content, including images, descriptions, questions, and other educational supports, and creating informational materials for partner institutions. The intern will also interface with partner institutions to support the asset nomination and curation processes. This role provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in digital content management, digital humanities projects, collaborative partnerships, and educational resource curation.
We will happily work with individuals whose schools offer credited internship programs for which the internship might qualify, but the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation does not offer educational credit otherwise. This position will be compensated.
Essential Functions
Founded in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a private, not-for-profit educational, historic, and cultural institution that owns and operates one of the largest and best-known museum complexes in the world. Our mission is “that the future may learn from the past” through preserving and restoring 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. We engage, inform, and inspire people to learn about this historic capital, the events that occurred here, and the diverse peoples who helped shape a new nation.
Today, Colonial Williamsburg is the largest living history museum in the U.S. The Historic Area is the 301-acre restored colonial capital with 88 original buildings and 525 buildings reconstructed to how they appeared in the 18th century through extensive archaeological, architectural, and documentary research. The Historic Area is staffed by highly trained, historically dressed interpreters and expert tradespeople who bring the 18th century to life. The Foundation also owns and operates two world-class museums, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute, and a renowned research library, the John D Rockefeller Jr Library.
Additionally, Colonial Williamsburg is home to five world class accommodations at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge Autograph Collection, the Griffin Hotel, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotels and Suites and the unique Colonial Houses in the Historical Area. Visitors may also indulge in food and drink at our many on site restaurants and taverns that blend a historically inspired dining experience with today’s evolved tastes. Each year over 5 million people visit Williamsburg and another 20 million engage with us digitally.
About The Position
history.org offers teachers curated collections of items and learning assets from the nation’s leading museums and civic education organizations along with a library of over 500 short, animated videos introducing key topics and concepts in American history and civics. Connected analysis guides and instructional resources support teachers and innovative site functionality meets them where they are, empowering them to engage with a broad variation of primary sources to ignite curiosity, foster historical thinking skills, and deepen content knowledge.
We are seeking a motivated intern to assist with the development of this platform. The intern will be responsible for uploading and organizing digital content, including images, descriptions, questions, and other educational supports, and creating informational materials for partner institutions. The intern will also interface with partner institutions to support the asset nomination and curation processes. This role provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in digital content management, digital humanities projects, collaborative partnerships, and educational resource curation.
We will happily work with individuals whose schools offer credited internship programs for which the internship might qualify, but the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation does not offer educational credit otherwise. This position will be compensated.
Essential Functions
- Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to support the development of history.org.
- Using the Wagtail Content Management System to plug in teacher created content and partner assets.
- Sorting and organizing digital files and ensuring all content is uploaded correctly.
- Copyediting content and checking peer’s work.
- Following strict deadlines to ensure material is uploaded in a timely manner.
- Regular check-in with Digital Project Manager to update on progress.
- Creating Collection Vision Sheets for museum partners and teachers.
- Using Adobe Photoshop for editing photos for websites.
- Enrolled in graduate program majoring in: History, Public History, Museum Studies, Education, Digital Humanities or related field.
- Comfortable working with Google Workspace, spreadsheets (Google Sheets and Excel), and Google Docs.
- Experience working on collaborative teams, preferably across institutions.
- Experience with uploading Content Management Systems or eagerness to learn.
- Experience with Adobe Photoshop or eagerness to learn.
- Ability to meet strict deadlines and work in a fast-paced environment.
- Ability to work alone and in collaboration with others.
- Exceptional attention to detail and writing skills.
- Ability to perform repetitive tasks.
- Applicants should be able to work 20 hours a week.
- Applicants must reside in or have permanent residence in the state of Virginia.
- Applicants must be able to work Onsite.