This internship post was written by Emma Gyorgy, a 2020 graduate of the Archives and Public History MA Program.
This semester I had the opportunity to intern with the Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center at the Museum of the City of New York. I spent my time at MCNY working on a variety of projects with the Education Center team. Some areas of focus were professional development events for educators, New York City History Day, and school programs.
An educator took this photo of me during a professional development day, in a session on photography. I’m conversing with a character from the exhibit A City for Corduroy: Don Freeman’s New York.
One of my first experiences with professional development at the Museum was during Breaking Boundaries, an educator day based on the exhibit In the Dugout with Jackie Robinson. This day was helpful to keep in mind as a reference during my work with professional development throughout the rest of the semester. I helped with the preparation for professional development events. Sometimes that meant researching potential session leaders for the annual Teaching Social Activism Conference, other times it meant running across Central Park to buy art supplies for an educator workshop. When an event is happening, all hands are on deck.
I continued to learn about event planning through my work on New York City History Day. The Museum hosts the New York City event for National History Day, where middle and high school students present history projects that examine the designated theme through a variety of formats and topics. The theme for 2019 was Triumph and Tragedy, and on New York City History Day I was able to experience the excitement of the hundreds of students who came to present their work. I had a deeper appreciation for the day because of my work helping to prepare the judging rubrics and student materials in the weeks leading up to New York City History Day. The day went off without a hitch, which was a reflection of the staff’s careful planning and long hours.
Question cards I designed for groups who arrive early to the Museum for a school program.
The Education Center leads school programs every weekday—in 2018 they welcomed over 50,000 students to the Museum. I assisted staff with school programs by sending confirmation emails for upcoming programs and stocking supplies for programs. I also took on a project to help fill a need at the Museum. School groups sometimes arrive early for their programs, and the Education Center was looking for an activity to keep groups engaged before their program. After several conversations with Joanna Steinberg, Senior Education Manager at the Museum, I decided to create a set of question cards for older students, and a set of image cards for younger students. The question cards feature New York City trivia, and questions that ask students to discuss their own experiences in the city. The image cards feature historic photos of iconic New York City sites from the MCNY collection, and students are asked to identify the familiar places.
I feel very fortunate to have interned with the Education Center at MCNY. I was able to see the behind the scenes magic of how the education team makes creative programming happen, and I look forward to returning to MCNY as a part-time educator in the fall.