In the summer of 2016 I will be moving to Washington, D.C. to begin an internship with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). This is my dream coming true, as I have always wanted to work in museums in D.C.
I have been fortunate enough to have experience working in the museum field through my time as an AmeriCorps with the Morgantown History Museum and through my coursework in graduate school. I have always wanted to work in public history on Washington. My goal was to go big and NARA was the perfect place. The website and application process was simple and very informative. I applied for one of their many internships working with visitors services and exhibitions. I was very excited when I got a response asking when I was available for an interview and eventually an offer to work there.
This summer I will be working in a variety of areas in the museum field. One area of this is visitor services, which helps with visitors to the site and conducting surveys. I will also be working on some of the temporary exhibitions that NARA has planned to be installed for the fall of 2017.
Upon accepting the internship I had to sort out finer details that many summer interns face when moving to a different city. Finding a place to live was proving a difficult task, however, I learned through a friend that George Washington University opens their dorms to summer interns. This is great to know for anyone who is looking to spend their summer interning in D.C. and the location truly cannot be beat!
Additionally, this internship would not have been possible without private gifts to the A. Keith and Sandra F. McClung Graduate Enrichment Endowment. Mr. and Mrs. McClung established the fund for graduate students who seek to pursue academic opportunities beyond the classroom in the arts and sciences. Both Keith and Sandra graduated from the WVU College of Arts and Sciences in 1956; Keith with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Sandra with a bachelor’s degree in History. Keith McClung went on to earn a J.D. from Harvard University. He served as Vice President and general counsel for Commercial Credit Corp for many years and later retired as general counsel for Citigroup. He also served his alma mater for 15 years as member of the Eberly College Advisory Board. Sadly, Keith passed away last May.