To be successful in the rewarding and fiercely competitive field of museum work, college students must apply their skills beyond the classroom. Increasingly, employers and graduate programs desire a certain level of practical experience to accompany a degree in the humanities. The Padnos Museum Internship Program at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum provides junior and senior undergraduates and graduate students with the necessary skills to be marketable. For its twenty years in operation, the program has provided lasting experiences for students from around the country.

The program's core focuses on collections management, where digitizing the collection has become one of the primary objectives. Interns gain experience by working directly with historical artifacts through various projects. Interns have contributed to essential museum activities, including cataloging, inventorying, condition-reporting, re-housing, reorganizing, and exhibition-related projects. For the Fall 2023 semester, we are also looking to recruit a virtual intern who will exclusively perform exhibition-based research and assist with creating content for online exhibits.

Students complete 240 hours of work over a 12-to-14-week period, just about the length of a semester. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation provides a stipend of $1,000 upon completion of the internship. Although we encourage students to pursue course credit for the experience, it is not required. We are happy to work with university departments to help students fulfill academic requirements for the opportunity. We can also work with graduate students to meet their specific academic needs.

The museum seeks students interested in assisting with research, content creation, data entry, photographing artifacts, inventorying the permanent collection, and performing maintenance of the outdoor sculptures and interior Oval Office exhibition. Previous museum experience is not required.

Interested candidates should send a cover letter and current resume to the museum's registrar, Noelle Ward at: noelle.ward@nara.gov

Internship Deadlines

Spring

November 1: Application deadline
January 15: Internship beings (flexible)

Summer

March 15: Deadline for Application
June 1: Internship begins (flexible)

Fall

July 10: Deadline for Application
September 1: Internship Begins (flexible)

Students from all over the U.S. have completed internships at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum: Hope College Grand Valley State University Cornerstone University Aquinas College Calvin College Western Michigan University Central Michigan University University of Michigan Seton Hall University State University of New York Marquette University Ball State University Saginaw Valley State University Taylor University North Central College Albion College