This post was written by Jack Vannoy, who will graduate this December with a BA in history. This past summer, he completed an internship at The Ashe County Museum of History for his HI 390: Internship in History course.
Over the summer I interned at the Ashe County Museum of History in Jefferson, North Carolina. It is a small museum and archive dedicated to local history. The Museum Director, Mr. Andrew Cole, provided me with a hands-on experience. We met every morning to discuss the work, and he kept his door open for me to walk in and ask questions whenever I wanted or needed. The work was highly diverse, allowing me to participate in the range of tasks in the operation of a museum and working with an archive. I helped with setting up a new display case, general visitor services, and some outreach to public schools.
I was truly able to draw on my historian’s skills in my own research projects. One led to my designing new interpretive panels for the “Worth Room” display. The Worth family was prominent in the county in the 19th century. My research in the “genealogy room” archive focused on one individual, David Worth, to link his story to the average person in Ashe County. He owned a wagon and furniture building shop, and the museum will integrate the new display to another one about jobs and the tools and artifacts used in daily life in Ashe.
There has never been a large population of Black people in Ashe, but the few communities dotted around the county have rich histories. Artifacts and information are scarce, but the museum director wants to inject more diverse narratives into the existing exhibits. My job was to see what I could find in local archives about the Black communities. The internship made it possible for the museum, with its limited resources, to start the project. I started with censuses, and records of three historically Black churches between the 1850s and 1950s. This work will continue with identifying and collecting oral histories in the communities.
The internship undoubtedly enhanced my history education, taking the classroom skills and then applying them to a real-world situation. I gained the broader experience in the logistics of running a museum, and dealing with guests, staff, and board members. It did not matter that the experience was narrowly focused on the Ashe region and its museum. In many ways, I was able to see the application of what I had learned in the classroom – it was very rewarding to know that all the assignments and papers I’ve turned in have done me some service. I just had to find a space where it applied.
Not only was the experience practical. I had a chance to learn so much about the area I am from. I met and re-met, now as an older person, a lot of people in the community whose connections will serve me well beyond the professional work scene. It did help that I am already connected to that area, and the historical content was familiar, which made me comfortable walking into the job. With all the work and commitment, I can say that I had a great time. I recommend the experience to history students, perhaps in a museum in their own community.
