Internships
Department of History
“The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum (CSPM) is committed to building a lasting connection to the Pikes Peak region by preserving and sharing our cultural history and accomplishes this mission through innovative exhibits, educational outreach and programming, and preservation of its object and archival collections.”
Chris Schreck’s Experience
My internship was at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum in the summer of 2018. While there I processed a small archival collection produced by a local historic ranching operation, the Hanna Ranch, and created an interactive online exhibit based on its contents. In addition to working on this specific project I was able to tour the museum’s facilities, view their collections, meet the staff, and I learned of the unique challenges and opportunities that an organization such at the Pioneers Museum faces. Some of those challenges include a small staff size, working with the pubic to produce relevant exhibits, and maintaining archives and artifacts in a building that is nearly 120 years old. Over the course of the project I grew as a professional archivist and historian, I learned about the history, geography, and geology of the Fountain Valley, I learned how to read deeds and other land-related documents, and I learned about Colorado homesteading and the early pioneers who did it. I even learned a little bit about ranching! I really appreciated the opportunity to work in the community, make connections with professionals in my field, and work hands-on with documents that help us tell our city’s unique story.
Heather Polls Experience
“My internship at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum has allowed me to not only research local history, but also experience it first-hand through a variety of projects. Applying research methods I have learned in the undergraduate and graduate programs at UCCS, I am able to hone those skills to create thorough database entries for incoming donations into the museum. I work with natural history, geological, anthropological, artistic, archaeological, ethnographic, ceramic, archival, and textile collections which gives me a wide range of materials to work with. I help catalog, store, inventory, and care pieces of historical importance. The greatest benefit of this internship is that I am learning skills and techniques used in Collections Care and Management which I can directly apply to a future career in the museum field. Specifically, I am learning how to preserve historical objects from the Colorado Springs area which is personally important to me as a lifetime resident of the city. The entire staff at the Pioneer Museum are a pleasure to work with, and they are passionate about teaching the care and display of their collections.”
“The Crawford Family U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Archives is one of the largest collections of Olympic and Paralympic Team USA memorabilia in the world. Established in 2012 through a transformative gift from Gordy and Dona Crawford, the archives occupy a state-of-the-art space at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee's headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The permanent archives houses over 11,000 objects related to the Olympic and Paralympic movements.”
https://www.teamusa.org/crawford-family-us-olympic-and-paralympic-archives
Lora Reiher’s Experience:
From June 12, 2019 to August 14, 2019, graduate student Lora Reiher did her internship at the U.S. Olympic Committee Archive (USOC). “My assignment was to make sure the framed art pieces in the archive were properly tagged and identified on the art racks and in the Past Perfect computer catalog.” AS part of her assignment, she was check each piece of art work and make sure it is properly tagged with catalog number, the name of the item, and any other necessary information. Then she copied the tag numbers down in a notebook and took photos of each piece in order to look up each item in the Past Perfect computer program and verify the information and photo match the item number on the tag. For instance, if there was a framed poster labeled PO563, that showcases the 1984 Olympics with a bobsled in motion that is on Art Rack1 Side B, “then I would need to verify that the image is correct, the tag is correct, and the description listed in the program matches the picture.” Once Lora ascertained that all the above information is correct, she then created an Excel file for each rack and side, to list all the pieces in that specific location. During her internship, Lora began updating a collection by Olympic photographer, Walter Iooss. All the images on the racks had no tags and had to be researched with a general description. As Lora was cataloging the pictures she noted that many of them had generic descriptions. Lora began to research Walter Iooss online to see if there were better descriptions of the images. Who are the athletes in the pictures? What was the context in which the image was taken? What year and event was the event taken at? In her research she discovered that Walter Iooss had published a book with many of his photographs in it called, Shooting for the Gold. Lora ordered the book to work on a side project for the archive to update the descriptions of the Iooss images. “With the assistance of the book, I was able to find the names of the athletes in the photos, where and when the photos were taken, and apply context to the image that was lacking before. My goal was to update the Iooss photos in Past Perfect so future researchers could readily obtain the information they need and not miss finding anything because it was updated in the system.”
Jami Wilson's Experience:
Graduate student Jami Wilson spent the summer working as an intern at the U. S. Olympic Committee Archives in downtown Colorado Springs. Here, she reflects on some of the gems she found in those archives, and why History research so rocks!
Upon my admittance to the History MA program at UCCS, I immediately sought to gain hands-on experience within a public history institution. My ultimate goal was to receive a PhD in Chinese History. With this goal in mind I recognized the prevalence of public history sites for professional researchers. Without archives, for example, many up and coming manuscripts within the field of history would be impossible. Historians often thank many of the institutions that provided them with research materials on the acknowledgments page of their work—archives, museums, libraries, etc.—and thus I wanted to know how these institutions worked on a deeper level than simply visiting an archive for sources.
After meeting with Dr. Jimenez, we both agreed that volunteering at the Crawford Family U.S. Olympic Archives would be most relevant to my pursuit of Chinese history. This institution hosts records, artifacts, photographs, and books detailing every Olympic Games held in East Asia (Tokyo 1964, Sapporo 1972, Seoul 1988, Beijing 2008). In short, although Colorado Springs is not a “hub” for research on China, I found a way to gain experience within public history as well as work with records and objects specifically relevant to my area of study. I am fortunate to now be in a position where I have access to Beijing 2008 Olympic Games records for an upcoming research paper.
While at the Olympic Archives, I have completed a number of projects. I volunteered from September 2015-June 2016. Within that time I processed, organized, and inputted all Olympic Games manuscripts into the archival system of Past Perfect Museum Software. Past Perfect is a database that allows one to fully articulate what an object is, where it was made, what it was made for, how it was relevant, and so on. In the case of the Olympic Games records, each Olympic Games had between 1 and 17 boxes each to sort through and input. Considering the Olympic Archives hosts manuscripts from over 45 Olympic Games, this is quite the number of boxes to organize. I sorted records ranging from 1906 to 2014. After the completion of this project I had individually archived such manuscripts as programs, rules and regulations, results, newspapers, and media guides with folder-level descriptions for the purpose of creating a clear finding tool and digitally preserving historical documents. My supervisor Teri Hedgpeth has repeatedly mentioned the importance of the completion of this project because now when academics and researchers request information on a particular Olympic Games, such as Beijing 2008, she can pull up the Past Perfect container list I created and send the list to researchers. Researchers can then tell her the title of the exact manuscripts they want. Any researcher knows how valuable it is to have a list of available records that are clearly defined.
Teri asked me to take on an internship with her starting in June 2016 and I have since been at the archive. Within this time I have completed a number of projects. I have processed and accessioned various Olympic Games-related manuscripts and artifacts including records, pins, clothing, and art into Past Perfect Museum Software with vivid description and photographs in order to digitize materials for easy access. I created a coin collection by using Past Perfect Museum Software to locate, retrieve, and rehouse all coins from the processed collection for the purpose of more accurately placing items in the system and archives. I have researched significant figures, events, artifacts, and manuscripts to better contextualize the items being processed. I assisted Teri in creating displays as well as prepared displays for travel. I followed Teri during archive tours as well as gave archives tours which required content knowledge on materials. I have also answered questions and inquiries from other departments within the United States Olympic Committee as well as questions from individual researchers for the benefit of making information accessible to the corporation and academia. Cleaning artifacts and displays were also activities I completed that contributed to a successful archive environment. I have most definitely gained the experience I initially sought for.
I would highly recommend that anyone pursuing the field of history, and especially those wanting to pursue their PhD, should volunteer or intern at a public history institution. Being able to experience how the archival process works allows for more understanding when requesting one’s own research materials. Combing through the Olympic Games records took me almost one year alone. Acknowledging that archivists and others within public history have thousands of materials to archive with an often small staff puts one’s own research requests into perspective. I have gained more confidence in terms of how I will navigate other archives and how I will ask for information from public historians in the future. I also feel that if/when I do someday thank public history institutions in the acknowledgments section of my own text, I will fully understand the amount of work public historians completed to make my research contribution to the field.
Marc Lucena’s Experience
Let me tell you about my internship at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Archives. It was a few weeks before the semester was due to start when I received an email with a list of possible internship opportunities. After reviewing the list, I selected to apply for an internship at the Crawford Family U.S Olympic and Paralympic Archives. The archive is located within the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee headquarters in downtown Colorado Springs. Working at the USOPC archive changed my outlook on what is possible for people in our field while also showing me the highest standard in preservation and documentation.
My first project was processing 100+ Olympic posters donated by the Winter Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York. Through completing the entries, I began to build confidence in my abilities to: describe, measure, weigh, preserve, photograph, research, as well as understand inventory logistics. My next project was processing a large donation of Olympic torches and medals. Some medals date back to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. When I began the medal and torch project, I did not know that some of the work I had done would end up in a United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum.
I finish the work, flashforward a year or so and I was able to attend the soft opening of the museum upon the invitation of the USOPC Archivist. The internship at the USOPC Archives has given me the opportunity to prove that I am capable of work which contributes to preserving history, and that feeling will compel me to continue work in our field.
“Penrose-St. Francis Health Services is a full-service, 522-bed acute care facility in Colorado Springs which includes Penrose Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center. Penrose-St. Francis is southern Colorado's only Magnet Recognized hospital.
We are part of Centura Health, Colorado and western Kansas’ largest hospital and health care network delivering advanced care to more than half a million people each year, across 17 hospitals, two senior living communities, health neighborhoods, physician practices and clinics, home care and hospice services, and Flight For Life® Colorado.”
https://www.centura.org/locations/penrose-st-francis-health-services
Barb was a graduate student when “My introduction to Christopher Valentine, Director of Communications at Penrose Hospital (now Assistant Vice Chancellor for marketing and communications at UCCS), grew into the first cooperative venture between Penrose Hospital and the internship program of the UCCS graduate school of history. Chris is an avid historian and had enhanced the public space in Penrose Hospital with highlights of the Hospital’s story. However, his desire to expand this work had been hindered because information about Penrose Hospital is housed in multiple archives throughout Colorado Springs. My internship focused on locating and evaluating these archives, and in creating an integrated finding guide that could assist research for future projects. A project did emerge during my summer internship as Chris and I discussed what my research uncovered. Two groundbreaking programs were developed at Penrose Hospital under its medical director (1948-1973) Juan A. del Regato, MD. First, Dr. del Regato modeled an internationally acclaimed multidisciplinary treatment of cancer. Second, Dr. del Regato developed a therapeutic radiology residency program which became the first such program supported by the National Cancer Institute. Current historiography on the history of cancer treatment in the United States makes no mention of the Penrose/del Regato story. The recent release of a 45 minute video, produced by Chris Valentine, corrects this historiographic omission. “The History of the Penrose Cancer Hospital Featuring Dr. Juan del Regato” premiered at the Broadmoor Hotel Movie Theater on September 18, 2019. It gives me great satisfaction to have played a part in the genesis of this successful project. The internship program of the UCCS history department offers a unique opportunity for non-traditional students like myself. Non-traditional students possess a wealth of expertise developed outside the academic arena. UCCS history department chair, Dr. Christina Jimenez, facilitated and strongly encouraged me to use my past experience – personal medical history, previously refined work skills, social interactions, and business contacts – as a springboard for creative historical work.”