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Student Internship Program
About the Program
The Byrd Center has a long tradition of providing students and volunteers with the opportunity to work with the center's Archives, gaining valuable, hands-on experience in the archives and public history fields.
Our Internship Program will be offered in one of two formats: in-person processing work in the Byrd Center collections or a fully-virtual internship experience based on primary source research and creation of blogs or virtual exhibit projects. The format of the internship will be determined in part by Shepherd University's policy for the summer term, but students may consult with Byrd Center staff if they are uncomfortable working on-site.
By the completion of their internship at the center, students gain practical experience in archival processing, reference services, and archival research. Many of our past interns have gone on to graduate programs in history (traditional and public), archives, museum studies, and library science.
The Byrd Center's internship program satisfies the requirements of HPPH 450. Upon successful completion, students may receive 3 credit hours for completing 400 hours at the center. Speak with your academic adviser if you are interested in applying to the Byrd Center's internship program.
The internship program is funded by the Friends of the Byrd Center and private donations.
Our Internship Program will be offered in one of two formats: in-person processing work in the Byrd Center collections or a fully-virtual internship experience based on primary source research and creation of blogs or virtual exhibit projects. The format of the internship will be determined in part by Shepherd University's policy for the summer term, but students may consult with Byrd Center staff if they are uncomfortable working on-site.
By the completion of their internship at the center, students gain practical experience in archival processing, reference services, and archival research. Many of our past interns have gone on to graduate programs in history (traditional and public), archives, museum studies, and library science.
The Byrd Center's internship program satisfies the requirements of HPPH 450. Upon successful completion, students may receive 3 credit hours for completing 400 hours at the center. Speak with your academic adviser if you are interested in applying to the Byrd Center's internship program.
The internship program is funded by the Friends of the Byrd Center and private donations.
If you're interested in an internship, please reach out to archivist Tish Wiggs.
Reflections from Byrd Center Interns
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Participating in this internship has been the most beneficial aspect of my college experience. Unlike classes and coursework where the assigned tasks do not often go beyond achieving a grade, the work that is done at the Byrd Center will not only allow future generations to become informed on the actions of congress, but also the legacy of Senator Robert C. Byrd, the United States’ longest-serving senator. While the job can be challenging, the knowledge gained from archival experience has been very valuable to me. Before working here, I had never given archival work as a career much thought, but am now hoping to stay in the field after graduating. Students who intern at the Byrd Center gain knowledge of how to organize, catalog, and maintain historical collections, as well as have the opportunity to interact with researchers. The knowledge gained through this internship will prove very valuable to any student of history or preservation, providing experience into how to best preserve our history’s artifacts and documents.
Shepherd University, Class of 2013 |
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During my time at the Byrd Center I have acquired a number of useful skills including the organization and preservation treatments for documents, and the processing of electronic records. While I have been here I have taken on projects and developed the skills required to: box textual documents, scan newspaper clippings and photographs (as well as trying to find the provenance of photos), and I also developed the organizational schema and then archived the files of Joan Drummond (a Byrd staffer). Working here provides one with real-world experience in a job and lets one apply what they have learned in class to the actual job. All of the staff at Byrd Center are supremely nice. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and believe that I have not only been able to apply knowledge and gain experience, but have also been able to network and really come to understand what an archive is, and learned how to research in an archives.
Shepherd University, Class of 2012 |
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I transferred to Shepherd to work on a degree in History in the fall of 2013 and almost immediately began working as an archive intern at the Byrd Center. Over the past two years, this internship has proven to be the most beneficial and rewarding experience of my undergraduate career. I was given the opportunity to work on a number of projects such as the digitization of the photograph collections of Congressmen Harley O. Staggers, Sr. and Harley O. Staggers, Jr., and the organization and re-housing of Selected Topics on Senator Robert C. Byrd. I have aided in the preservation and documentation of various other congressional records by maintaining physical papers and photographs and by entering digital copies into the PastPerfect Museum database. My time here has provided me with a wide skill-set of archival and curatorial practices (not to mention the numerous opportunities for professional networking, as well) that I will undoubtedly rely upon during my next two years as a Masters student in Public History at West Virginia University. I credit my archival experience and knowledge gained at the Byrd Center for landing me a graduate assistantship with the West Virginia and Regional History Center on WVU’s campus. If anything over the past two years has provided me with real-world experience in the field of public history, it has been this internship, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the field.
Shepherd University, Class of 2015 |
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While completing my undergraduate degree at Shepherd University, I began to consider attending Graduate school. I was interested in the library and archival field, but I wanted to gain real world experience before committing to a Graduate program. I completed an internship at the Byrd Center archives during my senior year. Working in the archives allowed me to get hands-on experience in a working archive and confirmed my interest in the field. My experience as an intern also gave me an edge in my Graduate courses. The projects I completed as an intern directly related to my Graduate classes and gave me a deeper understanding of the coursework. Anyone considering a career in archives, public history, or libraries would greatly benefit from the experience gained during an internship.
Shepherd University, Class of 2010 |
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I began working at the Byrd Center in 2013 while working on my undergraduate degree in Psychology, at Shepherd University. I was given freedom to choose the projects I worked on, and was quickly introduced to archival practices with only a modicum of previous training. I worked on a wide range of projects in my two years; ranging from art in the form of original political cartoons, to an entire library of books once owned by Senator Byrd. All of these projects gave me a wealth of archival experience that not many people gain at this stage of their careers. This experience not only taught me archival practices that would be rare for any undergraduate student to have, but gave me the inspiration for graduate school. I can easily take and rely upon my experience from the Byrd center into my classes as I study for my MLIS from Queens College in New York City, as well as in my future career as an archivist. I left the Byrd Center with a network professional relationships, a huge working knowledge on the powers and inner workings of the Senate, and work experience that will remain with me for life. This assistantship was undoubtedly was the most beneficial experience from my time at Shepherd University.
Shepherd University, Class of 2015 |
