The East Baltimore
Historical Library (EBHL)
seeks a paid intern to work on a 6 week public history project in
August-September 2025. The intern will collect oral histories and
conduct digital community archiving as part of the
EBHL church history archiving project, as well as interpreting this
material for a display at EBHL. Documenting the history of East
Baltimore Black churches is pivotal to preserving the legacies of Civil
Rights activists, community organizers, business leaders,
caregivers, and others whose voices are not part of institutional
archives. EBHL will draw from its network of pastors and church elders
to match the intern with 4-6 interviewees.
Details:
Compensation is $25/hour, and work hours are 8 hours per week. Expected
outcomes are 4-6 oral histories (digital recording and transcript),
portrait photographs of participants, digitization of community archive
material to be shared with the Digital Maryland
repository, and a display interpreting the oral history project to be
housed at EBHL.
Qualifications:
Advanced undergraduate or graduate student (MA or PhD programs) with
interest in public history and community archiving. Experience
conducting oral histories, using digital audio and visual tools, and
writing for a public audience. Strong communication skills
and scheduling flexibility. Ability to travel to EBHL and interview
sites.
How to apply:
Send a CV and a short (1-2 paragraph)
statement describing your interest and qualifications to the project
coordinator, Alicia Puglionesi:
apuglio1@jh.edu
About this project:
The internship is supported by the State of Maryland’s
MD Two Fifty initiative,
commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United
States. The EBHL archiving project supports recent efforts nationwide to
find, reclaim and preserve Black cultural history. It also supports
efforts to document the history of East Baltimore,
a neighborhood which has been home to a succession of racial, ethnic,
and religious groups, and which for the past twenty years has undergone
extensive redevelopment. The American rights to “life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness” are not equally available
to all citizens, yet people have always struggled to assert their
rights and dignity, sometimes in small ways that are never documented.
Community archiving honors those local-level struggles, and allows
communities to reflect on their achievements and contributions,
especially at significant milestones such as the nation’s
250th anniversary. The display at EBHL will interpret the stories of
local residents as they relate to major themes in the American story:
slavery and freedom, migration and immigration, faith and community,
and rights and democratic participation. Preserving these materials
digitally will make them accessible to the public through the Digital
Maryland website into the indefinite future.