Local Internship and Fellowship Opportunities

The following DC-area institutions regularly offer internships, apprenticeships, and/or volunteer opportunities. Follow the links to learn more about each institution's offerings. In addition, specific internship opportunities are periodically listed at the bottom of the page (depending on the volunteer webmaster's ability to find out about them, and keep up).

Details of specific internship opportunities can be found below:

Book and Paper Conservation Internship, Johns Hopkins University (ongoing)
Anthropology Conservation Laboratory, Smithsonian (ongoing)

Announcements of DC-area internships and fellowships can be sent to wcg@washingtonconservationguild.org for posting on this page. Please include “Website item” in the subject line.

Book and Paper Conservation Internship, Johns Hopkins University

The Preservation Department at Johns Hopkins University is accepting applications for the Ohrenschall Book and Paper Conservation Internship. The Internship is intended to provided recent graduates of conservation programs or bookbinding programs the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skill to the care and treatment of special collections and archival materials in an academic library. Interns will work closely with conservation staff on current projects, will also work independently on projects specifically selected to enhance their training and education and matched to their skill level.

Eligibility and Requirements:

Applicants must be recent graduates or currently enrolled at an advanced level in a recognized conservation/bookbinding program or an apprenticeship program or with 4 or more years of equivalent experience.
Applicants must be knowledgeable of conservation and preservation principles in the field.
Applicants must commit to four consecutive months of full time work or a schedule that is mutually acceptable.

One or Two Internships are available each year, one each semester (for 2009: October through January or March through June). There is also the option for the Fall Intern to request to be considered for an October through May eight month term. The Internship provides a stipend of $5,000 per four month term. Summer internships are generally not provided, except by special arrangements with the Director of Preservation. Applications are received year round.

For more information see: http://www.library.jhu.edu/departments/preservation

To apply for the Ohrenschall Book and Paper Conservation Internship please submit the following:

A letter of application expressing why you are interested in this opportunity and your future goals contact information for two professional references (include address, phone, email)
A resume indicating education (specify courses taken) and/or relevant experience or training
A portfolio of sample work done

Applications and other documentation may be mailed to the attention of

    Sophia K. Jordan-Mowery

    Joseph Ruzicka and Marie Ruzicka Feldman

    Director of Library Preservation

    Johns Hopkins University

    Sheridan Libraries

    Preservation Department

    3400 N. Charles Street

    Baltimore, MD 21218

Email applications should be sent to sjordan [at] jhu__edu

Deadline for Fall 2008 is August 15, 2008.

return to top

Anthropology Conservation Laboratory, Smithsonian

The Anthropology Conservation Lab Anchorage Project conservators are seeking two interns to assist with a large conservation project to document and conserve over 400 of the National Museum of Natural History's oldest and most important Alaska Native objects. The objects will be included in the 2010 opening of the Arctic Studies Center in the new wing of the Anchorage Museum, Alaska. Interns would gain experience and exposure to many facets of this complex project, with a focus on the documentation and cleaning of a painted Tlingit house panel, full sized stretched skin Inupiaq kayak as well as other objects. In addition, interns would be responsible for supporting various aspects of general lab operations. Interns would be encouraged to take full advantage of all Smithsonian resources.

The positions are for a minimum of 2 months and a maximum of 12 months at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. The internships are unpaid but include a travel stipend to attend a conference, workshop, museum program or any other activity with a conservation and/or material culture focus. Alternatively all or part of the stipend could be used to defray living costs. The internships may be most suitable for pre program students but applications from others are also invited.

Qualifications: Candidates should have an interest in ethnographic conservation and a basic understanding of the field of conservation. A background in ethnology, material culture studies, chemistry, materials science or digital photography a plus. But we would be interested in any other relevant experience.

Please send any questions or letters of interest to the project conservators,

Landis Smith <smithla [at] si__edu> or
Michele Austin Dennehy <austindm [at] si__edu>
Anthropology Conservation Laboratory
Museum Support Center
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
Suitland MD, USA.
301-238-1320

return to top