Archives Together Fellowship at Surratt House Museum
Job Title: Archives Together Fellow
Location: Clinton, MD
Duration: 180 hours during summer 2025; flexible scheduling available
Compensation: $3,060 stipend ($17/hr), paid in biweekly installments
Summary
The Surratt House Museum (SHM) and Research Center is seeking applications for two fellows working under the supervision of the Collections Manager and Archivist. The Archives Together Fellows will gain a foundation in the best practices for archival processing, access, and preservation, as well as museum education. They will also have the opportunity to engage with community engagement efforts, which will include identifying archival materials to support educational programs and may include creating a public program.
Position Responsibilities Overview
- Process an archival collection of interest
- Create or enhance a public program in collaboration with the education department
- Assist with the development of a series of community archives workshops (summer); assist in facilitating the workshops (fall and spring)
Description
Duration: 180 hours during summer 2025; flexible scheduling available
Compensation: $3,060 stipend ($17/hr), paid in biweekly installments
Fellows will directly support the SHM’s Archives Together: A Community Approach (ATCA) project, which will enhance SHM’s archival surveying efforts, foster new and enduring community relationships, and enrich its educational programming. ATCA fellows will be selected on a semester-by-semester basis in two-person cohorts. The cohort enables a built-in support system, so each participant will have at least one colleague with whom they can grow and learn.
Fellows will begin their time at the SHM by learning how to process museum archival collections using the museum’s archives manual and processing forms. From there, participants will work collaboratively with the Collections Manager and Archivist on an archival collection of their choosing to process the archives.
Based on participants’ interest and the museum’s goals, fellows will have a chance to process archival material from our collection they are most excited by, which may include:
- Historic newspapers and magazines
- Scripts for the stage and screen
- VHS and cassette tapes
- Blueprints and maps
- Photographs and art prints
- Historians’ research files and manuscripts
- A wealth of other paper-based collections
During their work, fellows will also be expected to identify archival material that can be incorporated into programs developed by the SHM education department for school-age children, and to ensure the material is accessible. Fellows will also have the opportunity to present their work in a manner of their choosing (blog, vlog, performance, etc.) to add to their professional portfolio.
Summer fellows will also assist the collections team in developing a series of community archives workshops that will be hosted in fall 2025 and spring 2026. These workshops will be open to members of the community interested in preserving their family histories. Fellows selected during the fall and spring rotations will assist with the execution of these workshops.
The fellowship is available to the public, but ideal for either undergraduate or graduate students in the fields of history and public history, museum studies, information or library sciences, and education. Taking place over three consecutive semesters beginning in summer 2025 and ending in spring 2026 with flexible hours, the fellowship lines up well to students’ busy schedules. Candidates selected may be considered for more than one semester, as circumstances allow, but this is not a guarantee. The Miller History Fund of the Maryland Center for History and Culture will be the source of fellows’ compensation.
Skills, Qualifications, and Requirements
- Must be available to work a mutually agreed-upon schedule, which may include weekdays, weekends, or evenings as needed.
- Professionally interested in a career in museums, archives, and libraries; desire to work both collaboratively and independently; excellent communication and research skills; strong attention to detail.
- Competency in common software like Microsoft and Adobe.
- Ability to walk, bend, and/or stand for extended periods of time, and lift ~15 pounds; or to perform these with reasonable accommodations.
- Applicants do not need to have prior experience in processing collections, working in archives, or creating educational programs, but some experience is preferred.
- The SHM especially encourages applications from people of color, LGBTQ+ people, persons with disabilities, and individuals from other underrepresented groups.
About the museum and the collections
The Surratt House Museum was founded nearly 50 years ago to preserve the historic home of Mary Surratt, the first woman executed by the U.S. federal government for her involvement in the plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. For most of its institutional history, the museum focused on white antebellum southern life, claimed Mary Surratt’s innocence, and glorified the treason of the Confederacy, while ignoring the site’s reality as a place of enslavement. Since 2021, under new leadership, the museum team has worked to expand the narrative to reckon more accurately the site’s history as a plantation, tavern, and government building.
The collections reflect the original focus of the site, as do the archives. Founded in the early 2000s, the Surratt House Research Center, formerly the James O. Hall Research Center, collects the research papers of Civil War historians and archival ephemera relating to that time period. Comprising about 40% of the total collections, the archives pose a daunting challenge to the current museum staff due to a massive lack of documentation. Without knowing what is in the archives, the museum is at a disadvantage to effectively leverage its resources. We do not know how relevant the archives are to our local community, and can only discover this by processing them more fully.
Mission
To ensure a most just future, the SHM serves as a catalyst for civic dialogue and for deeper perceptions of the U.S. Civil War, Reconstruction era, and evolving fight for social justice.
To Apply
Interested parties should apply to the Surratt House Museum by sending a PDF answering the questions below, along with a resume or CV, to pgp-johrc@pgparks.com. Any additional questions about the position can be directed to the same email or call us at (301) 868-5716. Applications will be reviewed in the order they are received. Apply by or before Friday, May 16to ensure full consideration.
Please send a PDF answering the questions below:
- What interests you about archives?
- What are you hoping to gain from this experience?
- Which material type from the one listed above intrigues you and why?
- What recent program have you attended in your community, and why was it memorable?
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate a workplace culture of diversity, equity and inclusion without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, gender identity, or any other non-merit factor.