Collections Internship at the Weeksville Heritage Center
Job Title: Collections Intern
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Stipend: $1400
About Weeksville Heritage Center
Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) is a historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that uses education, arts, and a social justice lens to preserve, document, and inspire engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses. Founded in 1838, Weeksville was the second largest of approximately 100 independent African-American communities established before the Civil War.
When a group of community activists rediscovered three remaining original homes in 1968, they purchased, rehabilitated, and restored the Hunterfly Road Houses, re-opening their doors as the Weeksville Heritage Center in 1973. In 2014, WHC opened its new Cultural Arts and Education Center and campus, including a visual arts gallery, performance space, resource center, and administrative offices is now poised for a bright new era, with the resources and vision in place to fully activate our history and expand our education, preservation, and public programming.
Recently announced as New York City’s newest Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) member, the first since 1998, WHC is one of New York City’s cultural treasures, dedicated to preserving and celebrating the story of the 19th-century African-American community of Weeksville, a nationally significant, exceptionally well-documented and rare extant example of an independent African-American community organized by Black entrepreneurs and land investors to promote economic, social, and political rights.
The Opportunity
The Interns for the Collections team at Weeksville Heritage Center will work closely with the Collections Manager and Collections Assistant to execute a collection-wide inventory project and support other significant initiatives to improve the care and conservation of its museum collections and increase access to the collections and associated data.
Primary Responsibilities
Supports a collection-wide inventory project: documenting, processing, rehousing, and digitizing WHC permanent collection objects as directed
Assists movement and consolidation of objects from various locations on the WHC campus
Supports preservation maintenance of historic houses, employing safe cleaning techniques to slow deterioration of the 19th-century structures
Audits digital assets on the organization’s shared drive and reorganizes for improved access
Culls duplicative material from administrative archives and assists in processing
Catalogs reference book collection
Compiles and streamlines inventory-related spreadsheets
Supports research requests from scholars and members of the public, as assigned
Perform other Collections-related duties, as assigned
Required Skills, Knowledge, and Qualifications
Preference will be given toward candidates that have or are working towards a Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in any of the following areas of study: Historic Preservation, African American History/Studies, Africana Studies, Fine Art or Art History, Museum, Heritage or Archival studies, Archaeology, Cultural Studies and/or Anthropology; will also consider coursework in these areas or decorative arts or material culture
Strong office, administrative, data processing, and organizational skills
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Ability to appropriately handle fragile and sensitive objects
Ability to work both independently and in a team environment
Organized and detail oriented along with being a self-motivated worker
Knowledge of African-American and Brooklyn history preferred
Time Commitment and Compensation
The internship will begin in early fall and last approximately 3 months, with an opportunity to extend to 6-7 months total in the spring. Specific start dates and work schedule are flexible with the intern working a part-time, in-person schedule of 14 hours / 2 days each week.
The intern will be paid a stipend of 4200.00 for the duration which will be paid out in 3 equal installments after every four-week period worked. Each installment payment will be $1,400.00.
How to Apply
Submit a resume and cover letter to: inquiries@weeksvillesociety.org. Please include Collections Intern in the subject line and include where you found this job posting in the body of your email.
Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Thank you for your interest in the position.
Weeksville Heritage Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All candidates for employment are considered without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, physical disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.