The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is seeking interns to join its Summer Internship Program in 2012. Through programs and tours of its historic tenement building at 97 Orchard Street, the Tenement Museum seeks to promote dialogue and historical perspectives about the varied immigrant experiences on New York's Lower East Side. These internships are open to college and graduate students interested in pursuing experiences in a small museum setting in their particular field.

Internships will begin the first week of June and run through the middle of August for a total of 10 weeks. Interns should expect to commit three days (21 hours) per week.

Internships are available in the following departments:

• Public Affairs
• Tenement Talks
• Curatorial/Collections
• Research/Exhibit Development
• Education

Applications are due by March 1, 2012, unless otherwise noted. Please include a cover letter, resume and one recommendation letter, and any materials requested in individual position descriptions. Send your application to internship [at] tenement.org with the position name in the subject line. No phone calls, please.

• Do you have any required qualifications for interns?
  
  All interns must be undergraduate or graduate students. Individual positions may require other skills and are listed in the descriptions for each position.
   
• How do I apply?
  
  Send your application containing a cover letter, resume, and one recommendation letter to internship [at] tenement.org with the position name to which you are applying in the subject line. Some positions may require other application materials and if so, they are listed in the individual position descriptions. Please submit all materials in one email, with the exception of the recommendation letter which may be sent separately.
   
• When is the application due?
  
  Applications must be submitted by March 1. The only exception to this is the Tenement Talks internship, which has a deadline of January 21st.
   
• When will I be notified of my status?
  
  Upon submission of your application, you should receive an email confirmation. Please, no calls or emails. If you are a candidate invited to move forward with the interview process, you will be notified by April 15th.
   
• What is required of me as an intern?
  
  Each position description has details about the individual positions, but all interns are expected to work at the Museum for 10 weeks between June 1 and August 1. Interns will work 21 hours per week on a schedule they will establish with their supervisor. Interns are invited to all staff meetings and are invited to participate in all office activities.
   
• Can I apply to multiple positions?
  
  You may apply to multiple positions, but you should submit a separate application for each position. Please specify the position to which you are applying in both the subject line of your email and the cover letter.
   
• Is this a paid internship position?
  
  Tenement Museum interns will receive a $1,000 stipend for the summer.
   
• Does the Tenement Museum provide housing for interns?
  
  The Museum does not provide or assist interns in finding housing.

The Public Affairs Department seeks a Public Relations and Marketing intern to join its Summer Internship Program in 2012. Through programs and tours of its historic tenement building at 97 Orchard Street, the Tenement Museum seeks to promote dialogue and historical perspective about the varied immigrant experiences on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

The Public Relations and Marketing Intern will work closely with the public affairs and curatorial departments. The Intern will work to increase group ticket sales via direct marketing outreach, promote the Museum's newest exhibit via a media relations campaign, and make contributions to the Museum's Blog and social media initiatives.

The Intern will rely heavily upon his or her writing skills to contribute to the Museum's Marketing and Public Relations campaigns by drafting, editing and distributing marketing and public relations materials. In addition, he or she will produce content for the Museum's blog related to the Museum's current exhibits and initiatives.

Our ideal candidate will have excellent written and verbal communications skills, be proactive and well organized in his or her approach, and be familiar with museums and social media. He or she will be comfortable working independently as well as collaborating with volunteers and staff from a variety of departments.

In addition to the application requirements for all Tenement Museum internships, please submit a brief professional or academic writing sample.

The Tenement Talks Intern will work on the evening event series of programs that illuminate the story of New York City, its culture, history and people. This intern reports to the Tenement Talks manager and will provide media, administrative and program support to the Tenement Talks team. The ideal candidate has an interest in creating museum programs and is equally comfortable hosting a party or sitting at a desk. This candidate must be self-motivated with creative problem solving skills and excellent written and oral communication skills. This candidate will be expected to manage an event on her/his own by the end of the internship.

* Please note there is an early deadline for this internship. Please submit applications by January 21st.

Responsibilities

Event Support:

• Keep folders for each event with contact information, press clipping and other important resources
• Track attendance, book sales, donations and other relevant event details
• Attend one event per week and rotate through all the different roles
• Manage one entire event from beginning to end before the end of the semester

• Write copy for e-blasts and blog
• Research biographical information on presenters
• Maintain a photo database of presenters and images needed for our website
• Update Twitter and Facebook accounts
• Monitor press for event listings

• Maintain mailing. Compose and send e-mails to all individuals who register to receive e-mails.
• Manage events inbox; respond to all general inquires about Tenement Talks
• Manage ticket and book sales for talks when appropriate
• Coordinate with other departments to maintain interdepartmental communication

In addition to the application requirements for all Tenement Museum internships, please submit a writing sample.

The Curatorial Department seeks a Collections intern who will develop museum registration and collections management skills as s/he works with the Collections Manager/ Registrar to implement the museum's collections stewardship and preservation program. The internship will expose the student to multiple facets of collections care and historic building preservation. Tasks include monitoring environmental conditions in storage and exhibit areas, archiving, inventory and the documentation of the Museum's collection, database management, and special projects.

This internship is a good fit for students in Conservation, Preservation, Museum Studies, Archives, History, Anthropology, Library Science or similar programs of study. The ideal candidate will have knowledge of basic museum collections management practices, be computer literate, and have an impeccable eye for detail, hand-eye coordination and the ability to work independently. Preference will be given to students with a serious interest in pursuing a museum career.

The Tenement Museum seeks an intern to assist its Exhibit Development Team with research necessary for the creation of its next series of interpretive exhibits, which will interpret the post-World War II Lower East, including the stories of Puerto Rican migrants and Chinese immigrants during the 1960s and 1970s. Specifically, the intern will conduct extensive research targeted at indentifying former residents of the tenement at 103 Orchard Street, now home it's new Visitor & Educator Center.

The intern will develop exhibit research and planning skills and be exposed to the multiple facets of museum exhibition design as s/he works with the Exhibit Development Team to research its next exhibit. Tasks will include conducting in-depth historical research in various archives and libraries throughout New York City, assisting the Exhibit Development team in planning and executing meetings with scholars and stakeholders, and participating in the process of designing the exhibit's visitor experience.

The internship is a good fit for students in History, American Studies, Museum Studies, Historic Preservation, Public History or Journalism. The ideal candidate will be able to work independently and have knowledge of basic museum practices, solid research skills, an eye for detail, and a passion for practicing history in public. Preference will be given to students with a serious interest in pursuing a museum career.

The Education Department seeks a highly motivated, self-confident, and adventurous intern to create oral histories for use in our educational programs. The ideal intern has some background and training in conducting oral histories. Our intern will be carefully supervised by the entire department, a fun-loving and ever-busy group of seven dedicated museum educators. We aim to provide our intern with real-world experience, and we expect our intern to create high-quality oral histories we can use in our public and school group programming. Interview subjects will include descendants of former residents of our landmarked 1863 tenement; local shop owners; local community organizers and activists; and local residents.

The ideal intern should feel comfortable interviewing people from varied backgrounds, ranging from second-generation Americans who live in upper-middle-class suburbs to newly arrived urban immigrants with only a partial command of English. Please note that the intern will be responsible for identifying and contacting most of these interview subjects, so the intern should be comfortable creating and implementing a research plan. There will likely be other duties as well, ranging from the occasional mundane clerical task to unanticipated crisis management. We're a small nonprofit, and everyone here quickly learns to multitask and contribute a variety of skills to the daily operation of this museum.

The Education Department seeks an intern for Ladino language research and translation for summer, 2012. Research will focus on translating La America, a newspaper of the Sephardic community in New York City, published by Moise Gadol between 1910-1925. We want to know as many details as possible about the organizations and events of the Sephardi community on the Lower East Side in order to interpret them as daily life experiences of Victoria Confino, a 14-year-old Kastoriali immigrant and former resident of 97 Orchard Street.

On the Meet Victoria Confino tour, our costumed interpreters portray Victoria in the first person, and this research will help us to enhance that interpretation as well as the physical decor of Victoria's recreated apartment. As historian Marc Angel says, "The Judeo-Spanish speaking Jews formed their own unique society in the Lower East Side. They brought with them their cultural heritage from the Sephardic communities of Turkey and the Balkan countries. They were quick to establish restaurants and coffee houses to cater to their culinary tastes. They established their own self-help groups, their own synagogue services, their own burial societies, and their own communal organizations." Only applicants with Ladino language translation skills need apply.

Qualifications: This candidate must have advanced Ladino language reading and translating ability.