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Making History Matter:

My Public History Experiences

In looking through this site, you will get a sense of the experiences I have had in the Public History field through internships and jobs.  My Public History career began when I applied for an internship at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.  It was there that I discovered my love for teaching history to the public as I was able to interact with visitors face-to-face in telling them the story of Harpers Ferry's past.  In this intense 12-week experience, I learned in depth how to interpret and demonstrate knowledge I had learned.
This experience later on led to an opportunity to become a Park Guide at Harpers Ferry where I further developed my interpretation skills but also aided in training interns.  My knowledge of Park history and procedure was put to the test as I was instructed to teach these interns everything that I had learned when I had been in their shoes. 
My second Public History experience occurred as an intern with the Pennsylvania State Archives where I worked closely with the Digital Archivist.  During this internship, I gained knowledge of how to work with two-dimensional manuscripts and records.  I came to understand how documents are cataloged and stored.

Finally, my third experience occurred at the National Civil War Museum where I worked with the Chief Curator to develop a temporary exhibit and put together material for an upcoming Museum publication.  By observing the curator, I learned a great deal about how exhibits are put together.

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