The student internship program

…is designed to provide upper-grade high school students, undergraduate, and graduate students with a meaningful educational experience that will be beneficial to both students and our organization.

We have opportunities for students in a variety of disciplines including, history, communications, library science, education, museum studies, historic preservation, journalism, and marketing. Students are required to commit to a minimum of  60-100 hours during the term of their internship. Internships are voluntary and uncompensated by the museum although many students use the opportunity to earn credit through their institutions. Housing is not provided; however, we will put you in contact with relevant community resources. Interns may set a flexible work schedule within normal business hours which are 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

One paid Graduate Museum Internship is available each fiscal year.  Students must work a minimum of Tuesday through Thursday from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm for a total commitment of 350+ hours.  The stipend for this Graduate Museum Internship is $250 per month.

Overall qualifications for interns include:

• Current enrollment in an accredited high school and/or a 2 or 4-year degree program
• Minimum High School GPA of 3.0 and college GPA of 2.7
• Good organizational skills
• Detail-oriented
• Excellent communication skills
• Good writing skills are an essential part of the job function
• Ability to work independently and effectively given a limited time frame
• Ability to balance multiple tasks
• Dependable and punctual
• Basic computer skills

Museum Internships

…are designed to provide exposure to the museum profession through work in the museum. Depending upon the applicant’s particular interests and skills, interns will assist the museum manager with exhibit research, design, and production and/or in various aspects of museum collection management. Duties can be as varied as researching and drafting exhibit labels, grant research and writing, performing basic preservation and artifact inventory tasks, photographing museum objects, or working with the creating the computerized collection management database. Applicants should have solid research and computer skills. Specialized skills such as social media or website content development, grant identification and writing, digital photography, or graphic design are particularly welcome, although not required.

Education Internships

Interns will assist the museum manager with the development of educational materials for students in grades one through 12. In particular, help is needed to develop educational activities for the Museum’s website using the digitized archives or materials from the Historic Hawken House collections. There is also a need for assistance with the coordination of National History Day and other educational programs. HTML experience is helpful.

Archives Internships

…are designed to provide exposure to the archival profession. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work with original and unique historical documents and photographs, learning archival principles and practice while also increasing their archival skills.

Duties assigned may include digitization and description of documents and/or photographs, processing manuscript collections, research for social media projects, and other duties as assigned.

Public Relations/Marketing Internships

The Intern assists with public relations and marketing, helping to increase visibility for the Webster Groves Historical Society and its programs.  Duties might include any of the following responsibilities, as well as other, unlisted duties. Develop, write and distribute approved press releases and other press materials; support public program planning and event execution functions; draft advertising copy for events; assist with developing, maintaining, and using marketing database, which includes client and prospect information; participate in social media marketing efforts for public programs, and contribute to website content development and design.

In addition to the above areas, opportunities may arise in other programs.

Application

Internships are available throughout the year including the Fall and Spring semesters and summer months. Applications may be submitted via email or by mail.

Application due dates: Fall semester: August 1; Spring semester: December 1; Summer months: April 1.

The required paperwork includes:

• a cover letter and resume;
• a writing sample (this can be a course paper, sample lesson plans for the education internship, or sample work from a creative portfolio for the marketing internship);
• an unofficial copy of your college or HS transcript;
• two personal references, one of which must be from a professor.

For further information, please email [email protected]