Padnos Museum Internship at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum seeks junior and senior undergraduates and graduate students to apply for its collections-based internship program. To be successful in the rewarding and fiercely competitive field of museum work, students must apply their skills beyond the classroom. Increasingly, employers and graduate programs desire practical experience to accompany a degree in the humanities. The Padnos Museum Internship Program offers students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with museum collections.
The program's core focuses on collections management, where digitizing the collection is a primary objective. Interns work directly with historical artifacts through various projects, ranging from cataloging and inventorying artifacts to cleaning the Museum’s replica of the Oval Office to helping install and deinstall exhibits. Interns will also learn about museum theory and practice through guided readings.
Students complete 240 hours of work over a 12-to-14-week period, just about the length of a semester. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation provides a stipend of $1,000 upon completion of the internship. Internships with a smaller time commitment can be discussed with museum staff. Although we encourage students to pursue course credit for the experience, it is not required. We are happy to work with university departments to help students fulfill academic requirements for the opportunity. We can also work with graduate students to meet their specific academic needs.
Previous museum experience is not required.
Interested candidates can apply by sending a cover letter and current resume to ford.curator@nara.gov
Spring
November 1: Application deadline
January 15: Internship beings (flexible)
Summer
March 15: Deadline for Application
June 1: Internship begins (flexible)
Fall
July 10: Deadline for Application
September 1: Internship Begins (flexible)