History major Tyler Vanice's Public History Internship

In Spring 2013, Tyler Vanice (History major) completed a semester-long internship at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, VA, arranged through the Washington Internship Institute (WII).

Tyler Vanice

The Washington Internship Institute arranges internships to match a student's interests, with placements at a range of governmental, privately-run, and non-governmental organizations.  Ty described the WII from his observations as a participant:

This program places students from many regions that are looking for internships around the District of Columbia. WII can find students just about any internship experience the student is looking for, as the Capital offers a large variety of fieldwork. The possibilities are endless; all the way from working at the Human Rights Campaign to federal locations on Capitol Hill for Congressmen.

George Washington Masonic Musuem, photo credit:  http://gwmemorial.org/index.php

Ty's internship provided the opportunity to learn a lot about the duties of a museum curator:

I was able to accomplish a lot of work that the Director could not find time to do ....I had to catalog artifacts, inventory the collection, rehouse objects, and search for lost artifacts. I was even taught the basics of book preservation techniques. Working in museums is not hard work, but it is not easy. The work is very repetitive but it’s worth all the work as I know I learned something new every day. There is always something to learn in the world of museums as each item has a story of its own and people love hearing stories.

Ty Vanice is enthusiastic about pursuing a career in public history.  Even before undertaking his internship, he had undertaken a public history project of organizing and digitizing World War II photographs for a private collector.  Ty has just finished his sophomore year, but when he completes his degree at Daemen, he will have a strong portfolio that includes both academic coursework and experience in the field of public history.

If you would like to know more about Ty's internship, you can read about it in the article about Ty published in the GWNM's Spring newsletter (see page 7); Ty also wrote about his internship in a blog post for Daemen's Career Services Office. 

If you'd like to know more about Public History at Daemen, contact Dr. Penny Messinger
For more information about internships, or about the Washington Internship Institute, contact the Career Services Center at Daemen.