External Internships (Summer 2023)

This page will be periodically updated with outside internship opportunities. Students may still earn internship credit for external internships by enrolling in HIST 4930

 Berthoud Historical Society: Collections Internship (Apply By: 4/15/23)

 BHS is looking for 1 college student to intern with the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum. Internships at BHS are meant for a student to take ownership of a project from start to finish, develop new skills, and learn more about what a career in museums could look like.

Historic Landscape Design & Education Internship​

This intern will assist in finalizing the landscape design for our historic
Leadville site by adding details to return the gardens to a premier visitor and education destination
in Leadville. Gain hands-on experience creating a multipurpose educational garden that will
greatly influence the use of the museum property in the town of Leadville, inspire garden tourists
to visit, and motivate thousands of visitors to install similar plants at home. The intern will help
promote home vegetable cultivation by teaching the local community about gardening techniques
and guiding them throughout the season via onsite education. During the internship, the intern
will:
● Research “eye-popping” alpine plants
● Add to the landscape plan common and Latin names of outstanding companion plants that
go together well in the various beds in the different micro climate zones around the
property.
● Review the coldest and warmest areas on the property and help finish the design
accordingly in conjunction with the director's wishes to ensure that the property will be
functional as well as beautiful.
● Research and help design high raised kitchen garden beds with covers that are handicapped
accessible.
● Help to source seeds, plants, and materials.
● Help sow seeds in the greenhouse
● Working with the director, create a summer garden lecture series to inspire and teach locals
how to create similar beds at home.
Additionally, the intern will work with the Director to create interpretive signage that identifies the
plants and their use or connection to the house museum and region. If time permits, the intern can
work with the staff to host an outdoor workshop to teach high altitude garden related skills to the
local community.
Outcomes: This internship will give the intern the opportunity to help create the highest formal
Victorian garden in the US, an important historical education and destination garden from the
ground up that will garner a lot of attention in the state. Additionally, they will gain experience in
community relations.

Student Conservation Association @ Ft. Laramie National Historic Site

Originally established as a private fur trading fort in 1834, Fort Laramie evolved into the largest and best known military post on the Northern Plains before its abandonment in 1890. This “grand old post” witnessed the entire sweeping saga of America’s western expansion and Indian resistance to encroachment on their territories.

Curatorial Aid (PO-00734323)

This position will serve within Fort Laramie National Historic Site's Cultural Resources division. The primary responsibility of this position relates to the care, maintenance, and preservation of the park's museum object, library and archives collections,  supporting records, and storage exhibits areas. This position will be performing housekeeping and preventative maintenance on museum objects and historic structures. This includes the development and utilization of museum handling and cleaning techniques. Learning basic museum environmental monitoring tasks such as checking pest traps, recording light levels, and recording temperature and humidity. Under supervision and with fellow museum staff make storage and housing containers to support museum objects, label storage units, move objects, line shelves and drawers, rehouse paper in archival folders, and install dust covers. Aid in completion of Annual Inventory reports, including library records, and enter catalog data into Interior Collections Management System (ICMS) database using established National Park Service (NPS) procedures.   

Visitor Services and Interpretation Intern (PO-00734324)

Help tell a more inclusive story of the American past at Fort Laramie on the Oregon Trail. Explore the transformation of the American West with us through commerce, emigration, conflict, and negotiation.

This summer internship is a vital member of the Interpretation and Visitor Services team at Fort Laramie National Historic Site. It is tailored for those exploring careers within the field of public lands and history education and interpretation. Park staff will provide formal and informal training and mentorship to you throughout the summer.

If you choose Fort Laramie, you will have an opportunity to expand your knowledge of American history from pre-history until the early 20th century and discover the High Plains environment of the North Platte Valley. You will also have a chance to grow as a public speaker, educator, and communicator by providing visitor services, answering questions, guiding informal tours of natural and historic areas, and giving brief talks. 

Visitor services duties (20%) encompass a wide range of services. You will be responsible for providing clear, current, and accurate information about Fort Laramie and the surrounding area. This information can include weather conditions, highway routes (particularly to the Black Hills and Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons), and orienting the public to opportunities to make connections with the past and environment of the fort.

Answering visitor questions (20%) can include highly repetitious informational and orientation questions about basic site facts. But they can be also a moment for you to engage visitors with informal interpretation of the human and natural stories of Fort Laramie and the surrounding area.

You will also have a chance to guide (20%) small groups visitors on brief tours of specific natural and historical stations. During the day, you may be stationed at a point of interest such as a historic building, a natural site, or a living history demonstration area. Living history demonstrations range from routine 19th century skills such as cooking or caring for natural fiber equipment to participating in historic weapons programs under the supervision of the park historic weapons supervisor.

There will also be ample opportunity to give talks (20%) on topics related to Fort Laramie's importance in American history or notable natural stories of the area. Talks will be based on pre-approved interpretive outlines, but you will also have the opportunity to research and develop your own. Previous team members have told important stories of the Mormon Exodus, treaty making with Indigenous peoples, the role of bison and other megafauna on the Great Plains, and frontier soldier life.

This internship will also have various minor duties (20%) supporting operations including driving park vehicles during events, assisting Fort Laramie Historical Association staff in keeping the visitor center tidy, providing emergency first aid, and more.

In addition to training and experience working in interpretation and education, you will have the chance to shadow other National Park Service jobs and get some hands-on experience in a variety of public lands career fields. Examples include aiding the curatorial staff with preservation, cataloging, and storage of historic items associated with the site, supporting facilities staff stabilizing and restoring historic buildings, and assisting with summer education and distance-learning programs conducted by permanent site staff.

If selected, you will work an approximately 12-week season (mid-May through mid-August) with 40 hours scheduled per week.

Fort Laramie is in a rural area with limited nearby services. The nearest grocery store is in Guernsey (15 miles) but Torrington and Wheatland (20 miles) offer a wider range of amenities. Many area residents make regular trips to Scottsbluff, NE (60 miles) or Cheyenne (80 miles) for specialized services including flights and medical care. Internet service and cell service is available in the area.

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