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Simpson College

Iowa History Center

Internship Programs

Providing Simpson students with real world experience in the realm of public history and assisting other organizations in their Iowa history programming, the Iowa History Center has developed a number of internships for students in local public history settings. Students interested in applying for these internships should contact Bill Friedricks at bill.friedricks@simpson.edu.

Interships include:
      Terrace Hill
      Fort Des Moines Museum
      The Iowa Department for the Blind
      State Historical Society
      Living History Farms
      Hotel Fort Des Moines

"This fall I have been interning at the Iowa Department for the Blind. The project that I am working on at the Department is called "History of Blindness in Iowa". The main goal of the project is to share the history of blindness in Iowa with all Iowans. It is a collection of oral histories that discuss the various topics about being blind. Thus far, I have really enjoyed my internship. If you are considering an internship, I would say, "Do it!"
-Keely Goshia

 

"Fall semester 2011 I was an intern for Marvo Entertainment Group, a film production company based in Princeton, Kentucky. I worked specifically on a production called America's Darling which is a film about Iowa cartoonist and conservationist Ding Darling. Since I was in Iowa instead of Kentucky, I communicated through phone and email with other members of the team. My main tasks involved looking through primary sources for publications about Darling and looking through hundreds of his cartoons to choose ones for specific assignments. I also analyzed audio clips of Darling's and was able to access old copies of the Des Moines Register at the Des Moines Public Library that were needed."
-Signe Mayland

"I loved my internship at the Iowa Department for the Blind. From June to August, 2011, along with Allie Walker, Meredith Ferguson, and Shan Sasser, I helped build a history website for the department. Our goal was to make the history of blindness in Iowa and the nation accessible to the general public. I'm excited to see the stationary and traveling exhibits which will soon follow!" 
-Maddy McAreavy 

 

"This summer I interned at the Hotel Fort Des Moines. The hotel is going to go through extensive renovations, and as a historic landmark its owner wants to incorporate the hotels rich history in the planning. My job was to search through and catalog documents, artifacts, and any other items into an archive. It was fun to read articles and letters from famous hotel patrons such as Vice President Spiro Agnew and Kathryn Hepburn."
-Allie Walker 

 

"I completed and offered consistency to biographies on African-American officers that had been compiled by past interns. This was a very rewarding educational experience, and at times, frustrating. I learned of the importance that the commissioned African-American officers at Fort Des Moines played in our society through hands on research."
-Rawley Butler

 

 

"On February 12, 2011, Allison Stevens and I presented the research that had been conducted over the last two semesters and the summer for the Fort Des Moines Museum. The research was done over African-American officers who earned their commission at the fort during World War I in 1917. By using original documents, newspaper articles, books, decedents and an many other sources, we were able to piece together the lives of these men and create biographies that had not been done before."
-Roxanne Vance

"Out of 639 names that were researched, 30 of the most significant men were chosen to be highlighted...Overall, my time working at Fort Des Moines on the Black Officers Project was both challenging and fun."
-Allison Stevens