Graduate Research Internship at the Kelley House Museum

Job Title: Graduate Research Internship

Location: Mendocino, CA

The Kelley House Museum is recruiting a graduate student to research and write about Mendocino settler, Nathaniel Smith. The student will conduct historical research, interview surviving descendants, and gather oral histories from locals. The expected outcome will be a family tree, biography, and timeline of Nathaniel Smith’s life overlaid with a contextual history of California’s treatment of people of
color during this period of history. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

The research will be used to help develop an exhibition on Nathaniel Smith (physical and digital) and will also become a future Kelley House Publication which will be available for sale to the public. The Kelley House will offer a research stipend of $3,000 for a graduate student in a relevant academic field such as American History, African American Studies, Ethnic Studies, or Museum Studies. If preferred, the majority of the project may be done remotely, though trips to Mendocino will be necessary for some of the research and interviews. You must have your own
vehicle for transportation.

The Kelley House Museum is a small historic house and research center located in Mendocino, California. The research center was established in 1973 as Mendocino Historical Research, Inc. by retired accountant Beth Stebbins and retired librarian Dorothy Bear. By 1975 the pair had acquired the dilapidated Kelley House and had the building restored into a museum. The mission of the Kelley House Museum is to collect, preserve, protect and share the rich history of the Mendocino Coast. The Kelley House has been serving this mission through the use of our
archives, research library, free museum, and the sale of historical publications.
Nathaniel Smith was reputedly the first documented black man to settle in Mendocino County.

According to various newspapers, Nathaniel Smith was born in Maryland to free black parents and arrived in Mendocino around 1851 in order to hunt for food for the new lumber mill cookhouse. He remained in Mendocino until his death fifty years later. During his lifetime he was a household servant, whaler, ferry operator, blacksmith, hunter, horse racer, landowner, and stage driver. He arrived in Mendocino with a Portuguese man named Francisco Faria, and according to his obituary in the Mendocino Beacon (Nov. 5, 1904), was “always proud of the distinction that he and Frank were the first white men to settle on the Mendocino Coast.” (This
refers of course to their status as non-indigenous settlers). He owned land, was married three times (two of his wives were Pomo), and had three children.

Please send resume and letter of intent to info@kelleyhousemuseum.org
Applications are due April 1, 2023