Interns at Hancock Shaker Village work alongside staff and volunteers at a vibrant living history museum and farm in western Massachusetts. Hancock Shaker Village, is a National Historic Landmark dedicated to sharing the history, legacy, and continuing relevance of the Shakers, a religious group who lived at the site from 1790 until 1960. With 20 historic buildings and a working farm and garden, the Village is open April through December for self-guided tours, demonstrations, talks, and programs ranging from theatrical performances to concerts Interns contribute to the successful operation of this dynamic public site while expanding their skills in and knowledge of museum functions and practices. The 2022 Hancock Shaker Village Summer Internship Program is generously funded by the Feigenbaum Foundation.
General Information
This ten-week program begins the week of June 6 and ends the week of August 8 (June 6-August 12 OR June 7-August 13; start dates vary among departments). Summer internships are full time (40 hours/week) and may include weekend shifts. Weekly schedules will be determined by the interns and their supervisors.
Internships are available in the departments listed below. Descriptions of and qualifications for each internship follow.
Curatorial
Development
Farm & Garden
Marketing & Special Events
Museum Education
Interns receive a $250/week stipend (for a total of $2,500) On-site housing is available. Applicants should
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indicate in their cover letter whether on-site housing is needed in order to fulfill the internship. Interns must provide their own transportation.
In addition to the duties of individual internships listed below, all Hancock Shaker Village interns participate in a weekly intern meeting to learn about the work of the Village and enjoy excursions to regional cultural and agricultural institutions. Interns also assist in preparing for and staffing several summer events, including the summer gala. Interns may have opportunities to work across departments to gain a richer experience of the Village.
How to Apply
Applications should include a letter of interest, resume, and two professional or academic references are due on Friday, March 25, 2022, to Cindy Dickinson, Director of Education, Hancock Shaker Village. If you would like to apply for more than one internship, please identify each internship by name and outline your qualifications for each separately.
Questions? Contact Cindy Dickinson at [email protected] or at 413-443-0188 x213.
Internship Descriptions
Curatorial
We are looking for curious and proactive interns to work alongside our Curator and Curatorial Assistant to help with a variety of jobs in the curatorial department. This department oversees the care and interpretation of the Village’s collection of 22,000 artifacts, 20 historic buildings, and extensive library and archives. The department organizes exhibitions, loans, and research, among a variety of other projects.
What you will do: You will gain invaluable experience in addressing curatorial challenges unique to a historic site—including issues related to preservation, conservation, interpretation, and relevance to our world today. Our 2022 curatorial internships will focus on projects related to object care and preservation of two key aspects of the collection: 1) textiles and 2) furniture and decorative arts. Working with curatorial staff and volunteers, you will assist with inventorying, condition assessment, and proper storage of these objects as the Village completes a major re-inventorying of its collection. You will also help with exhibit installation and maintenance. Interns will learn how to use the museum’s collection database (PastPerfect), which provides access to the artifact collection as well as the hands-on education collection.
Qualifications: Curatorial interns must have an enthusiasm for the preserving and interpreting the past to share with the future; a foundation in history, art history, museum studies, public history, American studies or another subject related to the Village; good written and oral communications skills; a demonstrated ability to take direction and work independently; success working in a dynamic environment; the ability to lift at least 30 pounds, and a willingness to get your hands a little dirty. A sense of humor is also appreciated.
Development
Working alongside our small but highly-efficient development team, you will gain valuable experience in and understanding of the vital role that development plays in supporting the museum’s mission. This work is accomplished through special events, a membership program, grant writing, solicitation of private donations, and sponsorships.
What you will do: Your work as an intern will focus primarily on helping the development staff run and manage the Village’s annual gala (Saturday, August 6). The intern will also gain experience in all areas of the development office including learning and working with development database to enter and clean data, pull reports, and analyze donor engagement and giving, conducting donor research, writing donor communications, researching and writing grants and sponsorship proposals, providing customer service directly to patrons and trustees, learning about membership and giving programs, and supporting the
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department with special projects.
Qualifications: The Development Intern must be enthusiastic, hard-working, flexible, and a skilled-problem solver; have demonstrated success in multi-tasking in a fast-paced environment; be able to follow directions and show initiative, as the situation requires; must be able to maintain composure and a sense of humor in high-pressure situations; be able graciously hear critique and redirect efforts to meet goals; must have a familiarity with Microsoft Office (Excel experience a plus). Prior experience working with the public is helpful but not required.
Farm & Garden
We are looking for hard-working energetic interns to work alongside our CSA manager and our livestock manager. Each season, staff and interns create a dynamic, collaborative community that offers invaluable experience operating a successful working farm at the heart of a public historic site. Interns expand their knowledge of sustainable vegetable production in such areas as soil ecology; plant health; weed, disease and insect management; crop rotation plans; seed starting and care of young plants; greenhouse management; and planting and harvesting schedules. Interns gain experience and confidence while assisting in the care of our livestock–cows, sheep, pigs, goats and poultry–in many stages of their development.
What you will do:
In the garden: Start seeds; care for young plants; work in the greenhouse; prep garden beds; plant vegetable starts; water and fertilize; control weeds with methods such as mulching, cultivation and hand hoeing; plant and manage cover crops and beneficial insect habitats; maintain the medicinal herb garden; harvest and prepare vegetables and produce for weekly CSA pick-up; and staff the CSA pick-up. In this special setting you will use both historic and modern farm practices and tools.
In the barn: learn basic animal husbandry and participate in barn chores such as egg collection, feeding and watering of animals, and cleaning as needed.
You also will assist with Village initiatives that present the sustainable working farm to the public, such as giving garden tours, facilitating Saturday workshops, and helping with the summer gala.
Qualifications: Farm and Garden interns should have a strong commitment to learning about sustainable agriculture; demonstrated ability to take direction and work both independently and as part of a team; success working in a dynamic environment; ability to lift at least 30 pounds; a fitness level that allows them to work actively for extended periods; and a willingness to work hard in all types of weather. Prior experience on a farm helpful but not required.
Marketing and Special Events
We are looking for an energetic and enthusiastic self-starter with exceptional interpersonal communication skills to work alongside our Director of Communications & Marketing and Events Manager. The Communications & Marketing Department is responsible for all aspects of marketing and publicity—print, web, social media, and public relations—and Special Events Management for Hancock Shaker Village. Examples of Special Events include concerts, dinners, and weddings. During your internship, you will gain extensive experience with a wide range of Marketing and Special Events related tasks in a fast-paced museum environment.
What you will do: Update and maintain the Village’s extensive lists of media outlets; research via internet and phone; respond via e-mail and/or phone to requests; post or submit event information to multiple online outlets; take photographs/video of Village events and daily activities for the organization’s growing social media presence; suggest social media text; print and file press mentions; serve as the primary assistant to the Events Manager for pre-event planning, event set-up, trouble-shooting during events, and
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post-event clean-up and follow-up; work with the ticket desk and/or museum store management as needed.
Qualifications: The Marketing and Special Events Intern must be exceptionally well-organized, have excellent communication skills in writing, in person, and on the phone; have demonstrated success in working in a fast-paced environment; be flexible and easy-going; be able to follow directions and also show initiative, as the situation requires; must be able to maintain composure and a sense of humor in high-pressure situations; enjoy multi-tasking (some of which includes sitting at a computer terminal and using spreadsheets); and must be able to lift at least 30 lbs. Prior experience working with the public is helpful but not required.
Museum Education
We are looking for energetic and well-spoken interns to join the Education Department staff and volunteer interpreters as we share the Shakers’ history, beliefs, and continuing relevance with visitors. You will gain valuable experience in public speaking and interpretation (both formal and informal), historical research, visitor services, program planning, and workplace dynamics.
What you will do: Education interns’ tasks typically include working as interpreters (staffing historic buildings and giving public talks) alongside seasoned staff to support daily public programming at the Village; providing significant support to the Village’s summer programs (including three weeks of children’s programs); and undertaking an independent project (nature of which is mutually determined by the intern and the supervisor) that will benefit the department. Examples of such projects include researching and developing a new special-topic talk, developing and implementing a craft workshop, and creating training materials.
Qualifications: A Museum Education intern must have demonstrated experience successfully working with people of all ages, especially children; demonstrated ability both to take direction and to work independently; and excellent communication skills, both oral and written. You must be patient, flexible, organized, hard-working, and have a good sense of humor. A strong foundation in history, sociology, cultural studies, or another related subject is preferred; farm experience and/or craft skills a plus but not required.
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