Registrarial Assistant/Intern, First Division Museum
Registrarial Assistant/Intern (May - August 2020)
Department: First Division Museum
Reports to: Museum Registrar
Location: Wheaton, IL
Compensation: $14-$17/hr.
About the First Division Museum
The First Division Museum is a world class museum dedicated to American military history and specifically the history of the Big Red One, the famed 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. Located on the grounds of Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois, our 38,000 square-foot facility includes 10,000 square feet of interactive and experiential exhibits. The museum has a wide variety of exhibits including life-size dioramas, Virtual Reality, and tanks found in the outdoor military park. The McCormick Research Center, located in the First Division Museum, is home to thousands of books, donated papers, photographs, and oral histories that tell the story of the 1ID.
Opportunity: Registrarial Assistant/Intern
The First Division Museum offers a structured, formal internship program that provides exposure to specific departmental activities and museum-wide initiatives. This is an exciting opportunity to gain hands-on experience caring for a museum collection, including database management and maintenance, artifact handling and photography, and storage planning. We do our best to offer an experience that matches the interests of our interns with the priorities of our team at the museum. Each intern is given a thorough orientation, syllabus, is well supervised, and evaluations are completed by both the student and the supervisor at completion, ensuring a strong learning experience. Our past interns have a strong track record of moving on to successful careers. Ideal candidates have a strong interest in helping the Registrar capture as much information on artifacts being accessioned into the collection. This is a part-time internship (approx. 24 hours/week) for four months from May through August 2020 that reports to the Museum Registrar.
Responsibilities
- Creating, updating, and maintaining data for the museum’s roughly 13,000 artifacts in the permanent collection (PastPerfect database)
- Photography of artifacts
- Storage label and mount-making
- Supporting the Registrar in the accessioning of larger collections and/or donations
- Supporting other Collections Department Staff, as needed
Qualifications
- Currently enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program (graduate students preferred)
- Some experience with conducting historical and archival research
- Some experience in and knowledge of museum collections (management, care, and artifact handling)
- Comfort with subject matter that can be challenging and at times disturbing as it deals with war and its consequences
- Efficient and effective multi-tasking and time management skills
- Detail-oriented, inquisitive, and thoughtful
- Team player, with the ability to work independently when needed
- Demonstrated passion for the Foundation’s values with commitment to deliver results measured against the Foundation’s mission
- Outstanding interpersonal skills and experience building relationships with multiple stakeholders by listening to new ideas, encouraging dialogue, and inspiring people to work towards common goals
- Excellent writing and presentation skills, particularly in communication with diverse constituencies in a variety of settings
- Basic computer skills including use of Microsoft Office Suite
- All offers are contingent upon successful completion of a criminal background check and drug screening