Author: Ricky Punzalan

Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums’ Building Museums conference

/ Ricky Punzalan

Join museum colleagues, architects, other design and construction professionals, and project funders in lively conversation about what is involved in a museum building project.

Attend a day-long workshop on all the elements you need to know to plan, design, and build a successful and sustainable new museum or addition to an existing museum. Learn about planning and building best practices, and how to identify project “red flags.”

Visit new and refurbished museums by attending behind-the-scenes tours. Meet the 2018 winners of the prestigious Buildy Award given to honor exemplary museum building projects. Network with conferees at special receptions and informal “birds of a feather” gatherings.

As in other years, there will be AIA continuing education credits for the workshop and sessions.

Building Museums

Summer Graduate Internship Opportunities at The Henry Ford

/ Ricky Punzalan

I am pleased to announce five graduate internship opportunities for summer 2018 at The Henry Ford:

  • Archival Holdings Survey Internship
  • Industrial Design Collection Processing Internship
  • McGuffey Readers Organization, Description, and Access Internship
  • Textile Conservation Internship
  • Textile History Collection Archival Processing Internship

For more information, please visit https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/about/ways-to-get-involved/

The Henry Ford’s Simmons Internship Program is designed for current graduate students pursuing careers in museums, historical agencies, conservation labs, or related fields. This internship provides participants with an opportunity to gain in-depth work experience in a major American history museum.

Stipend and Terms of Internship Simmons interns are awarded stipends for a minimum 12-week full time internship. Starting and ending dates for individual internships are negotiable. The Simmons Internship Program is funded by the Vera W. and Walter E. Simmons Endowment Fund.
Applications should include:
• A letter of application, stating how your graduate studies, work and/or volunteer experience and
personal interests qualify you for the specific project
• A résumé
• Two letters of recommendation regarding your qualifications for the internship, submitted directly by the authors.

Students may apply for more than one internship project, but must submit a unique letter of application for each. Duplicate letters of recommendation and resumes will be considered. The deadline for application is Friday, March 9 (postmarked or emailed by 11:59 PM EST).

Please submit inquiries, letter(s) of application, résumé and letters of recommendation to HistoryInternship@TheHenryFord.org or Saige Jedele, Simmons Internship Coordinator, The Henry Ford (20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124-5029).

MAHDC Executive Director Job Description

/ Ricky Punzalan

The Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions (MAHDC) seeks an executive director. Serious candidates please respond to Frederick Stachura whose email address is at the bottom of the description below. Thank you!

Executive Director Job Description

The Executive Director is responsible for overseeing the administration, programs and strategic growth of the Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions (MAHDC), a statewide preservation organization in Maryland with a mission to provide advocacy, training and program support for historic preservation commissions and local governments across the state. Other key duties include fundraising, marketing, and community outreach. The position reports directly to the Board of Directors. The Executive Director works closely with Preservation Maryland and Maryland Historical Trust, the state’s other statewide preservation entities, to promote historic preservation throughout Maryland.

The ideal candidate is self-driven and will demonstrate solid, hands-on management skills and organizational abilities, as well as ability to convey a vision of MAHDC’s strategic future to the board, membership, volunteers, partners, and donors. The candidate should have strong written and oral communication skills. Knowledge of email marketing software, website maintenance (WordPress), and graphic design and marketing skill is also beneficial.

The Executive Director works about 10 hours a week on average (can range from 5-20 hours per week depending on the schedule of events), primarily from their home office. Some travel is required throughout the year for six annual board meetings (held in Crownsville, MD), quarterly social hours (held throughout Maryland), an annual symposium, fundraisers, partner meetings, training events, and meetings with member commissions and staff.

Compensation: $12,000 annual stipend

The Executive Director is an independent contractor who provides their own computer, phone, transportation, and office space; some direct expenses are reimbursable.

Job Responsibilities

  1. With the aid of MAHDC board members, provide technical advice to MAHDC members commissions and staff
  2. Oversee the MAHDC Training Program, including marketing, scheduling, booking instructors, registration, and making recommendations to the board
  3. With editor and graphic designer, develop articles, compile, and distribute quarterly publication, Maryland’s Historic Districts, by email
  4. Produce weekly content for MAHDC website blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed
  5. With MAHDC board members, coordinate quarterly social hours for the MAHDC membership
  6. With MAHDC board members, coordinate fundraisers (currently one per year with desire for at least one more)
  7. With MAHDC board members, pursue grant funding
  8. Update and maintain a current contact list of commissions, staff, and chairs
  9. With VP of Finance, mail and process annual renewal notices
  10. Update and maintain a current list of individual and business members
  11. With MAHDC executive committee, assist with board recruitment, elections, and orientation
  12. Represent MAHDC at the NAPC Forum, when possible, including coordinating an MAHDC-sponsored session when relevant
  13. Administer the CLG educational set-aside grants on behalf of MHT
  14. Work with the board to develop and implement MAHDC-sponsored sessions at regional preservation events
  15. Market and manage the MAHDC Restoration Contractors Directory
  16. Prepare, with the MAHDC President, the bi-monthly board of directors meeting agenda, staff report, meeting reminder notices, and meeting minutes; participate in all meetings
  1. Attend meetings with partners such as Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) and Preservation Maryland (PM) representatives as needed
  2. With MAHDC board, provide assistance and guidance for governance, fundraising, education, and other committees and task forces
  3. Keep website domain registration and hosting and email contract for website up-to-date

Frederick C. Stachura, Chairman

President

Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions

301-780-8306

Frederick.Stachura@ppd.mncppc.org

Naval History & Heritage Command Underwater Archaeology Branch Internship

/ Ricky Punzalan

INTERNSHIP INVITATION

The Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) of the Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC) would like to extend an invitation to your institution’s undergraduate and graduate students to consider applying for our academic internship program that focuses on historic preservation and STEM initiatives.

THE NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND

The NHHC is the official history program of the Department of the Navy. Its lineage dates back to 1800 with the founding of the Navy Department Library by President John Adams. The Command now includes several museums, an art gallery, a library, operational archives, a curator branch and the underwater archaeology program.

THE UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY BRANCH

UAB was formally established in 1996 as a consequence of the Navy’s emerging need to manage, study, conserve, and curate its submerged cultural resources. Since then, the Branch, conveniently located on the Washington Navy Yard, has served as the Navy’s center for expertise on all matters concerning underwater archaeology, cultural resource management, and preservation of ship and aircraft wrecks. In addition to office space, archives, and an equipment depot, the Branch also manages the NHHC’s Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.

UAB serves four main functions:

o Resource Management & Policy Development. Resource management involves implementing an overall cultural heritage policy, ensuring Navy remains in compliance with historic preservation laws and regulations, forming a sunken military craft inventory, developing individual site management plans, coordinating violation enforcement, coordinating human remains issues, and extensive collaboration with federal, state, local agencies, international counterparts, the non-profit sector, the private sector and the public. The Branch is currently finalizing the implementing regulations for the Sunken Military Craft Act.

o Archaeological & Historical Research. Intrinsically tied to the management of sunken military craft are the inventory, survey, assessment, documentation, research and monitoring of these ship and aircraft wrecks. NHHC undertakes archaeological research as a lead agency, as a collaborator, as a guide, and as a monitor and permit-issuer in the case of external archaeological surveys and/or actions that disturb U.S. Navy sunken military craft. Our more recent projects include the search for Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea, an excavation of a War of 1812 shipwreck in the Patuxent River, MD, and the USS Westfield mitigation excavation, while the conservation of the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley is ongoing in Charleston, S.C.

o Artifact Conservation & Curation. All historic artifacts recovered from an underwater environment require some form of conservation and a proper curation environment to remain in a stable condition. NHHC, via its Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory, is directly responsible for about 7,000 artifacts originating from sunken military craft. The Branch manages an artifact loan program with over 11,000 artifacts on loan to nearly a dozen museums around the country. The remaining 2,700 artifacts are curated in the Laboratory, where a number of them are receiving conservation treatment.

o Education, Public Relations & Information Dissemination. Public education and outreach is a fundamental mission component of NHHC as it helps promote the Navy’s heritage and preserve its sunken military craft from disturbance. Information dissemination occurs through channels such as publications, presentations, lectures, a web and social media presence, and press coverage is pursued on a regular basis.

ACADEMIC INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

The UAB Academic Internship Program is oriented towards upper level undergraduate students and graduate students who can devote an academic semester to working full time or nearly full time at the Washington Navy Yard. Internships are unpaid, though the Branch regularly coordinates with academic institutions to ensure all requirements (such as learning objectives, mid-term reviews, and final assessments) are met in order that students receive full credit for their internship with UAB. The UAB Academic Internship is a challenging, work-intensive, and enriching experience aimed at dedicated students who are interested in a diverse, multi-disciplinary, and career-orienting internship. Students are assigned one or two long-term projects to complete during their tenure, and are also given multiple shorter assignments. The combination of cultural resource management policy, archaeological field research, conservation, curation, and public outreach allows for students of differing backgrounds to work on tasks of direct interest to them. Student experience in archaeology, anthropology, historic preservation, conservation, chemistry, museum studies, history, English, public policy, communications, education, computer science, geographic information systems, or library science is preferred. Applications should include a resume, unofficial transcript, writing sample, and 2 recommendation letters. Applications are examined on a rolling admission basis, but a limited number of students per academic semester (Fall, Spring, Summer) are accepted.

SAMPLE INTERN ACTIVITIES

Preparing, undertaking, or following up on field investigations

• Conducting archaeological and historical research

• Reviewing, editing or preparing reports

• Synthesizing information and preparing policy or case study briefings

• Conserving artifacts

• Assisting with the UAB artifact inventory, management, and loan program

• Coordinating partner and inter-agency correspondence

• Participating in public outreach and education initiatives such as tours, lectures, presentations, and enhancing the UAB web presence. LOCATION The NHHC headquarters are located on the Washington Navy Yard at 805 Kidder Breese Street SE, Washington D.C., less than a ten minute walk from the Navy Yard Metro stop. The UAB is located within Bldg 70, very close to the National Museum of the United States Navy, the Navy Departmental Library, the Navy Archives, the Navy Art Gallery, and other NHHC components.

CONTACT INFORMATION
For more information on the Underwater Archaeology Branch or NHHC please visit:
http://www.history.navy.mil/research/underwater-archaeology.html
For application forms and instructions please visit:
https://www.history.navy.mil/get-involved/internships.html
Call us: (202) 433-9761
Write to us at: NHHCUnderwaterArchaeology@navy.mil

UMD Heritage Lectures: Morag Kersel, Wed. Feb. 7 @ 3pm, Woods 1102

/ Ricky Punzalan
Please join us for the talk “Unmasked! Museums, Transparency, the Public Trust, and Things from the Holy Land” given by Morag Kersel, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Museum Studies Minor at DePaul University. The talk will take place Wednesday, February 7 at 3:00 PM in Woods Hall, Room 1102.
Dr. Kersel is the third speaker for the 2017–2018 UMD Heritage Lectures series, co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Historic Preservation. Her work combines archaeological, archival, and ethnographic research in order to understand the efficacy of cultural heritage law in protecting archaeological landscapes. She co-directs the Follow the Pots Project (followthepotsproject.org), which traces the movement of Early Bronze Age pots from the Dead Sea Plains in Jordan. She is co-author (with Christina Luke) of U.S. Cultural Diplomacy and Archaeology (Routledge 2013) and a co-editor (with Matthew T. Rutz) of Archaeologies of Text: Archaeology, Technology and Ethics (Oxbow 2014).
Abstract:
Museums earn the public’s trust when they are seen as the authority on issues related to care, protection, interpretation, and provenance of the items in their collections. The public counts on the museum to act ethically and to be responsible and transparent in the presentation of the past – they place their trust in the organization. Recent exhibitions of artifacts from the Holy Land at institutions like the Royal Ontario Museum, The Israel Museum, and the Museum of the Bible allow for the examination of museums and public trust. This lecture will examine the differing strands of museum obligation – to the public, to students, to board members, the academic community, the country of origin, and ultimately to the archaeological record. Using the exhibition of things from the Holy Land as a lens we will investigate the politics of public display and the role of the museum.

ALHFAM 2018 Annual Meeting & Conference Fellowships

/ Ricky Punzalan

The application for fellowships to attend the 2018 ALHFAM Annual Meeting & Conference in Tahlequah, OK, June 105, 2018, is now available.

Fellowships are awarded to individual members who have not previously received a fellowship, and those who have not attended an ALHFAM annual conference are especially encouraged to apply.

Fellowships included full conference registration ($400) plus $300 towards travel or lodging expenses.

Applications are due on or before March 15, 2018, and recipients will be notified by April 1, 2018.

A link to the fellowship application can be found here: http://www.alhfam.org/2018-Annual-Conference.

If you have any questions, please contact Alisa Crawford, chair of the Fellowship Committee. Her contact information is on the application form.

NMAH Summer Internships

/ Ricky Punzalan

How to apply to summer internships at the National Museum of American History

Interested applicants must go on to SOLAA, the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment system and create an account. Fill out your contact information, upload a résumé, two letters of recommendation, transcript (unofficial copy accepted) and a two page essay (summarizing your skills, coursework and experiences as well as sharing your learning expectations).

SOLAA Program Choices for NMAH

NMAH Development Internship (External Affairs) Program, Summer internship deadline March 1.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/getinvolved/internship/opportunities/development

NMAH Special Events (External Affairs) Program, Summer internship deadline March 1.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/getinvolved/internship/opportunities/special-events

NMAH Office of Communications and Marketing Internship Program, Summer internship deadline March 1.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/getinvolved/internship/opportunities/public-affairsoffice-communications-marketing

For all other internship opportunities at NMAH (Curatorial Projects, Archives Center, Education, Daily Programs, Graphic Production, Exhibition Design and many more!) choose NMAH Internship Program. Then you can choose up to three project choices!

http://americanhistory.si.edu/getinvolved/internship

For paid internships

You can apply to one of these paid internships and in your essay express your interest in a placement at the National Museum of American History or any Smithsonian  unit of your choice that is accepting internship applications.

https://www.smithsonianofi.com/internship-opportunities/ (Smithsonian-wide section)

Part-Time Visitor Services Associate at Historic Annapolis

/ Ricky Punzalan

Are you looking for part-time education and visitor services work in the museum field?

Please see the following opening with Historic Annapolis in Annapolis, MD, and submit your application if you are interested! Multiple openings are available.

JOB TITLE: Visitor Services Associate

EMPLOYMENT CATEGORY: Hourly, non-exempt, up to 25 hours per week

DATE UPDATED: January 16, 2018

REPORTS TO: VP of Education and Interpretation

HOURLY RATE: $10 per hour

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Visitor Services Associate is expected to assist with all aspects of visitor services at the William Paca House and Gardens: staffing the reception desk; admissions, membership and retail sales; collecting visitor statistics; maintaining site security; giving tours; and assisting with public programs, events, and other duties as assigned.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

– Assists with general museum reception and visitor services and maintains the highest standards of customer service for all visitors.

– Responds effectively and knowledgeably to questions from visitors regarding Historic Annapolis, Inc., HA sites and exhibit information, planned programs/events, local tourist information, and membership and volunteer opportunities.

– Responsible for all opening and closing procedures, both at the register and reception desk and in opening and closing the William Paca House and Gardens.

– Performs accurate POS retail sales processing, admissions, event, and membership sales through two software platforms (Counterpoint and Altru) to balance the day’s business in the appropriate manner.

– Provides in-depth and engaging tours of the William Paca House.

– Answers the telephone and provides requested information. If unable to answer the question, VSAs forward the call to appropriate staff members, using good communication skills and working collaboratively to do so.

– Performs store maintenance, restocking supplies, and cleaning as needed to optimize the appearance of the retail sales floor and all merchandise.

– Participates in all aspects of setup/break down and staffing of HA events in support of the organization as requested and needed.

– Assists with public, education, and fundraising programs.

– Is knowledgeable about HA membership levels and benefits and promotes HA membership sales.

– Willingly and enthusiastically assists HA staff with tasks as needed, including administrative tasks and public and fundraising programs.

– Other duties as assigned.

JOB SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION:

– College preferred, high school or G.E.D. essential. Those with degrees in history, art history, museum studies, education, or related fields are encouraged to apply.

– A minimum of one year of work experience in retail or customer service position.

– Demonstrated interest in and aptitude for providing high-quality educational content to a diverse general public.

– Dedicated commitment to the philosophy and mission of Historic Annapolis.

– Excellent customer service abilities, accuracy, enthusiasm and productive work ethic.

– Effective oral, written and interpersonal communication skills.

– Effective knowledge of HA properties and programs as well as Annapolis tourism and restaurants.

– Ability to deal tactfully and effectively with a diverse population of visitors and staff.

– Demonstrated organizational and time management skills.

– Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, database system and Power Point required.

– Ability to follow policies, procedures, and instructions to accomplish assigned tasks accurately and appropriately.

– Demonstrate a desire and ability to function as a team player, including working a flexible schedule, including evenings and weekends, to accommodate the needs of Historic Annapolis.

– Public speaking experience.

You can view this listing at http://www.annapolis.org/support/employment-internships. To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume tolucy.mikhailova@annapolis.org.

Field School in Ireland Summer 2018

/ Ricky Punzalan

Dr. Stephen Brighton’s Field School in Ireland explores the material history of the Irish Diaspora in and around Skibbereen, County Cork, an area that is infamous as a metaphor for the impacts and horrific sufferings of the Great Starvation. Through archaeological investigations, archival research, and interviews with local historians of the Skibbereen Heritage Center and members of the local community, students will receive extensive and intensive experience learning about the Irish Diaspora, socio-cultural change in Ireland over time, and the experience of Irish immigrants internationally.

For more information, visit:

http://globalmaryland.umd.edu/offices/education-abroad/program/11224

Summer ’18 Internship And Fellowship

/ Ricky Punzalan
Summer ’18 Internship And Fellowship Application 
Digitization and Curation of African American History
National Museum of African American History & Culture
This program seeks to build a professional pipeline for historically underrepresented individuals to grow successful careers in the cultural sector. All internship opportunities with this program will focus on work related to digital imaging, media preservation, digital preservation of personal and community objects, digital content management, collections information management, recording and preserving oral histories, or digital filmmaking.
Intern Benefits
  • Meaningful stipend to defray living expenses during the tenure of the appointment
  • Need-based housing and transportation stipends available for summer internships. Students qualify by selecting their need to pay rent during their term on the application.
  • Flexible start and end dates
  • Structured mentorship opportunities both within the Museum and with outside professionals
  • A calendar of professional development seminars catered to the needs of historically underrepresented individuals in the cultural sector
  • Paid registration and travel to attend the Association of African American Museums annual conference in August 2018
  • Paid professional memberships