Done By Volunteers & Interns

Madeline was a summer intern at the Charles Lindbergh House and Museum in Little Falls. She spent half of her time conducting guided tours and the other half of her time conducting research that will be used to build a future public history program. 

Madeline grew up in Little Falls and visited the house many times over the course of her childhood and always wanted to work there. Interning at the Charles Lindbergh House and Museum has been a dream come true for her. Below is a transcript of an interview with her.

Can you share 1 or 2 projects you worked on during your internship that you are proud of?

I split my time as an intern between giving tours and conducting research. The first major project I did was writing my own tour script. I spent a lot of time at first following other interpreters on their tours and reading the book that the majority of the Lindbergh tour is based off of, Boyhood on the Upper Mississippi. It's a collection of letters written by Charles Lindbergh later in his life about his experience growing up in Little Falls. It was really cool to hear directly from Charles about the town I grew up in too. I took a lot of notes on that and also noted things I liked from other interpreters' tours and then fit all of that into the outline of MNHS' vision treatment for tours at the site. I had expected to sort of just be given a script and told to memorize it, so I was excited to find out how much originality and creativity are encouraged. I have loved becoming a storyteller this summer and feeling like the tours I give are a piece of myself as well as of the history I love. My ultimate goal when I take guests into the house is to get them to the point where they can almost see a young Charles standing in the room with them, and I think that at least with some of them I've managed it.

My research project this summer involved creating a source compendium of information on Charles Lindbergh's conservation and environmental efforts in the 1960s and 70s. Eventually this information will be formatted into a public presentation. I like to think I'm sort of laying the foundations. I've compiled a list of all the primary and secondary sources relevant to this topic and have also provided a summary of content for each one, in addition to also  gathering key points, supporting information, and citations. Eventually, all of the most important information on Charles' environmentalism will be contained in this one document I'm working on, so it will be easy to find and access later. I've gone through sections of several books, articles, newspaper clippings, websites, MNHS event project documents from the 90s, and a 1964 edition of Reader's Digest that I found on Ebay. That was one of the most fun parts. 

What did you enjoy most about your internship experience?

My favorite part of my internship has been developing my skills in viewing and sharing history as a story rather than facts. I've learned so much about how to make history real and alive for people of all ages and backgrounds, both through writing and giving my tour and through the direction of my research. The experience has made a huge impact on me and changed the way I think for the better. I study Social Sciences Education in college. Whether I decide to teach in a traditional classroom later or use my degree in other ways, maybe more so in the field of public history, I think I have really learned how to help people form connections with the past and how to sort of turn myself into a facilitator who can help them do that rather than just an instructor. I really feel that I'll be able to do history justice now, wherever I end up in my career. That means a lot to me.

Pam is a volunteer at the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center working in the Hubbs Microfilm Room. To date, Pam has contributed 6 years of service and reached more than 1,000 volunteer service hours. 

As someone who used to work in family history, volunteering at MNHS allowed Pam to continue what she loves to do, research and helping others explore family genealogy. Recently, Pam helped a library patron find a newspaper article about her biological mother. This individual was separated from her parents at a young age and came to the Gale Family Library hoping to find more information about her family.

Every week when Pam comes in to volunteer, she is able to help patrons discover new information. Sharing the excitement of finding new information with patrons makes Pam happy. She also enjoys helping patrons think out of the box and directing them to new resources. Pam finds it rewarding to help individuals explore genealogy and discover new information, that is why she continues to volunteer with MNHS.

Thank you, Pam, for your dedication to MNHS as a volunteer!

Kyle was the Evaluation Intern for 3 semesters at the Minnesota Historical Society. Below is a transcript of an interview with him.

Why did you apply for an internship at MNHS?

I applied for this internship for a few reasons, both professional and personal. Professionally, I have a lot of appreciation for MNHS as one of the most-respected state history institutions in the country and for its recent initiatives to tell a broad range of stories that have previously gone unrecognized. As a student of public history who would like to remain in Minnesota in my career, MNHS was a perfect fit. Specific to evaluation, I had experience on the front end of public history in archives, exhibits, and interpretation, but wanted to learn more about how exhibit, program, and site management staff determine the success of their initiatives and adjust accordingly.

Can you share 1 or 2 projects you worked on during your internship that you are proud of?

I am quite proud of all the work I did at Historic Fort Snelling last summer and into the fall. I conducted visitor intercept surveys for their general visitor program, a special event with Michael Twitty, and a prototype exhibit on soldiers' day-to-day lives at the fort. I also cleaned, coded, and analyzed that data a created reports which I presented before several of the staff members at the Fort and central MNHS. I've had the opportunity to do similar things for a few programs, create reports for nearly all the sites, and have presented for the staff at the Lindbergh House and the Mille Lacs Indian Museum as well as the staff and volunteers who contributed to Somalis + Minnesota. I've really learned a lot, both about evaluation and about what visitors value in their experiences. I also did a near total rework of the evaluation site on Fletcher, which was a completely different and valuable experience for me.

Where do you work now and how did your internship prepare you for this job?

I am currently working as a contractor for the MNHS evaluation team and am stationed at the Oliver Kelley Farm and the Charles Lindbergh House and Museum (where I actually had my first experience working for MNHS leading tours of the home three years ago). My internship directly prepared me for me current role, as I'm doing similar work to what I did as an intern. They've given me experience working in several museum settings, helped me develop a strong network, and given me the opportunity to see exhibits and programs through the eyes of thousands of visitors.

Praise from Kyle’s supervisor:

“Kyle became an indispensable part of the evaluation team, helping with whatever task at hand was. He was a quick learner, had excellent attention to detail and did exemplary work. He had excellent rapport with visitors and staff alike. He even helped provide training to the new Fort Snelling intern at the end of his final semester. His willingness to commute from St. Cloud for all 3 semesters of his internship speaks to his professionalism, dedication and passion for the field. He will undoubtedly make a huge contribution in his career.”