History | Academic Requirements and Concentrations | Minor in History | Local History Internships | Courses | Faculty
Local History Internships
Students at Purchase College can earn 2 to 4 credits learning about history at a local historical society, museum, archive, or town hall.
The Local History Internship affords students the opportunity of one or two semesters’ work experience at one of the 60 agencies that participate in this unique “hands-on” program. These historical societies, archives, municipal collections, and library local history collections are located in Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam Counties and in the Bronx. The internship is a core course of the Institute for Westchester and Local History.
The supervised internships involve working with documentary material, including papers, photographs, and maps. Project descriptions have included:
- assisting in accessioning (bringing new materials into collections)
- organizing and describing historical material, papers, maps, photographs, and microfilm
- participating in research; helping to set up exhibitions
- assisting with restoration, preservation, writing, and educational projects
- oral history projects
Prerequisite: HIS 3030/Culture and Society in 19th-Century America, or HIS 3721/Local History Workshop
Internship Approval and Placement
Interested students should consult with the director of the Local History Program, who approves participation and places interns based on both the student’s and the agencies’ needs:
Prof. Lisa Keller
Durst Family Humanities Building, Room 1023
(914) 251-6538
lisa.keller@purchase.edu
