The Oral History & Digital Archives Intern

About Weeksville Heritage Center

Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) is a historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that uses education, arts, and a social justice lens to preserve, document and inspire engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses. Founded in 1838, Weeksville was the second largest of approximately 100 independent African-American communities established before the Civil War. 

When a group of community activists rediscovered three of the original homes in 1968, they purchased, rehabilitated, and restored the Hunterfly Road Houses, reopening them as the Weeksville Heritage Center in 1973. In 2014, WHC opened its new Cultural Arts and Education Center and campus, including a visual arts gallery, performance space, resource center, and administrative offices. With resources and vision in place, WHC is advancing the goal of fully activating our history and expanding our education, preservation, and public programming. 

Recently announced as New York City’s newest Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) member, the first since 1998, WHC is one of New York City’s cultural treasures, dedicated to preserving and celebrating the story of the 19th century African-American community of Weeksville, a nationally significant, exceptionally well-documented and rare extant example of an independent African-American community organized by Black entrepreneurs and land investors to promote economic, social, and political rights.

The Opportunity 

The Oral History & Digital Archives Intern will work closely with the Collections Manager and Collections Assistant to support the processing, preservation, documentation, and accessibility of Weeksville Heritage Center’s growing oral history collection and digital archives while gaining hands-on experience in oral history, archival processing, digital preservation, and collections management.

Primary Responsibilities 

  • Create, transcribe, review, and edit oral history transcripts for accuracy, completeness, and consistency. 
  • Research and identify missing names, dates, locations, organizations, and other contextual information referenced in oral history interviews. 
  • Create descriptive metadata and finding aids following museum and archival standards to improve organization and researcher access. 
  • Upload oral histories, transcripts, audiovisual files, photographs, release forms, and related documentation into CatalogIt. 
  • Organize and maintain digital audio, video, transcript, image, and document files according to departmental file management and digital preservation procedures. 
  • Assist with processing, digitization, and long-term preservation of oral histories and digital archival collections. 
  • Perform quality control of oral history records to ensure completeness, accuracy, and consistency. 
  • Assist with research requests from staff, scholars, and members of the public, as assigned. 
  • Perform other collections, archives, and oral history-related duties, as assigned.

Required Skills, Knowledge, and Qualifications 

  • Preference will be given toward candidates that have or are working towards a Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in any of the following areas of study: Public History, History, African American History/Studies, Africana Studies, Museum, Heritage or Archival Studies, Library and Information Science, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Sociology, Journalism, Digital Humanities, Communications, or related fields; will also consider coursework in these areas.
  • Strong research, administrative, data processing, and organizational skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including proofreading and editing.
  • Ability to conduct historical, biographical, and genealogical research using archival, library, and online resources.
  • Ability to work both independently and in a team environment.
  • Organized, detail oriented, and self-motivated.
  • Previous experience with museums, archives, libraries, oral history projects, or digital collections is valued but not required.
  • Knowledge of African American and Brooklyn history preferred.

Time Commitment and Compensation

The internship will begin in early fall and last approximately 3 months, with an opportunity to extend to 6-7 months total in the spring. Specific start dates and work schedule are flexible with the intern working a part-time, in-person schedule of 14 hours / 2 days each week.

The intern will be paid a stipend of $ 4,200.00 USD for the duration, which will be paid out.

How to Apply 

Submit a resume and cover letter to: inquiries@weeksvillesociety.org. Please include Oral History & Digital Archives in the subject line and include where you found this job posting in the body of your email. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Thank you for your interest in the position.

Weeksville Heritage Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All candidates for employment are considered without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, physical disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.