Ahoy, Lighthouse Museum Interns!
Earn Museum Studies Internship Credit at a Lighthouse
Museum interns can explore their love of the sea while earning college credit.
An internship experience adds another dimension to a job hunter’s resume. If you love the sea, why not intern at a lighthouse museum?
Interns at the St. Augustine Lighthouse Museum have an opportunity to research and write education programs. Interns also help plan, as well as staff, museum events at this site preserving the story of the United States’ oldest port.
The current lighthouse was built in 1880. However, the original Spanish watchtower was erected in the late 1500’s.
Shipwreck history and related artifacts are part of the lighthouse research effort. The historic wreck of the “Industry” in 1764 is an early example of a ship bringing British supplies to the new colonies. “Underwater Archaeology" shows ocean footage of artifact recovery.
The “Living and Working a Lighthouse” exhibits explore the lighthouse history and the lighthousekeeper’s work materials. Daily life is further explored through “Storing Memories” focusing on the women, children, and ethnic variety of workers at this lighthouse.
Visitors get to try their hand at knot tying, just like a real lighthouse worker. More current life at the lighthouse is explored through “Guardians of the Coast” when World War II armed guards manned the towers and trained the US Coast Guard.
Farther up the coast, the Stonington Historical Society offers summer internships along with a small stipend and possible housing. Interns at this small museum have the opportunity to tailor their own internship program according to their interests and career goals, as well as the Society’s current needs.
An internship can include collections management, exhibitions, or programs at the Old Lighthouse Museum, the Woolworth Research Library, or the Capt. N. B. Palmer House. The home of local resident, National B. Palmer, discoverer of Antarctica, is part of the museum.
The original Stonington Lighthouse was built in 1823 and lit with ten oil lamps. It was rebuilt in 1840 and in 1889 a beacon was installed on the outer end of a new breakwater. The lighthouse remains and has served as the Stonington Historical Society Museum since 1927.
Current education programs such as the “Sea Chest” of articles a sailor would have taken to sea between 1820 and 1850. Of course, there are tours of the lighthouse.
On the west coast, the Westport Maritime Museum in Westport, Washington, offers an Education Curator Americorps internship. This full-time paid intern will upgrade and expand the museum’s K-12 and adult education programs, as well as recruit volunteer educators. Upon successful completion, interns receive a financial education award.
This museum operates two facilities. The main museum is in a former Coast Guard lifeboat Station. A satellite facility is the nearby Grays Harbor Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse on the west coast. Museum collections focus on maritime life, life-saving, lighthouse history and oceanography.
So, get your feet wet! Add some real-life experience to your museum studies degree with an lighthouse museum internship.
