(Editor's note, 3/27: the posting has been revised to reflect the correct typical hours per week and dates of the internship.)
2024 Morgan Library & Museum Summer Internships
The Morgan Library & Museum welcomes applications for its 2024 paid summer internship program. The program will provide an introduction to the variety of career opportunities available in museums and special collection libraries. Each intern will be assigned to a department relevant to their interest and work with departmental staff on timely topics in that area. Interns will also have the opportunity to learn about the Morgan, and the museum and special collection fields more generally, through professional development opportunities such as facility tours and meetings with museum leadership.
Please see detailed application instructions below. The Morgan especially seeks to provide opportunities to candidates from backgrounds historically underrepresented in the museum and special collection libraries fields.
For summer 2024, internships are available in the following areas:
Communications and Marketing Internship
The Communications and Marketing department at the Morgan Library & Museum stewards the brand of the organization through paid media, earned media, digital storytelling, email marketing, audience research, and countless other outreach initiatives. The department seeks a summer intern to support communications and marketing activities related to the Morgan’s centennial, specifically, promotional planning for the upcoming Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian’s Legacy exhibition. The summer intern will also support recruitment for and planning of the 2024–2025 College Ambassadors program, a social media program designed to improve engagement with college students in the Tri-State Area. Lastly, the summer intern will support ongoing audience research initiatives, helping to field surveys, analyze data, and author summary reports. The intern is invited to join departmental meetings and events and observe media engagement throughout the duration of the program. Candidates should have excellent writing skills, as well as a working knowledge of social media and the arts media landscape.
Drawings and Prints Internship
Among the Morgan Library & Museum's most treasured objects are the more than five hundred lifetime impressions of Rembrandt’s etchings, one of the finest such collections in the world. The department of drawings and prints seeks an intern to help catalog these etchings. Duties include drafting short catalog entries (to be posted on the Morgan's website) and updating bibliographic information for each object. This work will be carried out in the department using the Morgan's robust reference library and in consultation with object files. The intern will be an integral part of the department and should plan to attend bi-weekly departmental meetings as well as weekly planning meetings with supervisor Sarah Mallory, the Annette and Oscar de la Renta assistant curator of drawings and prints. Candidates should have excellent writing skills as well as working knowledge of Rembrandt's printed oeuvre. Reading knowledge of German, Dutch, or French is preferred but not required.
Exhibition and Collection Management Internship
An intern in the Exhibitions and Collections department will have the opportunity to work on various projects related to exhibitions and collections stewardship. A selection of potential activities includes the following: assisting the Exhibition Coordinator with management of exhibition files and building workflows (this will involve entering and organizing data into our project management software and creating templates for future use), aid in data entry into TMS, the creation of forms and checklists for outgoing loans, acquisitions, and exhibitions, and the clean-up of our records in the database. The intern will participate in the exhibition graphics production process (including attending meetings related to the graphics process) by generating exhibition related paperwork for installation—labels for objects, etc., partnering with the Collections Registrar, Collections Assistant, and Collections Technician on vault stewardship initiatives (this may include work on the Morgan collection survey) and also attend various exhibition related meetings to get a sense of the process, deliverables, and needs. The intern will be responsible for working with the Exhibition Coordinator, Exhibitions Registrar, and Head of Exhibition Preparation on the floor during the summer exhibition changeover as appropriate.
Imaging and Rights Internship
This internship offers a unique opportunity to gain experience in the Imaging and Rights Department. The successful candidate will assist with Morgan publications and exhibitions, organizing images and spreadsheets, assisting with color proofing and maintaining image and copyright credits. The intern will also update metadata in collection image files and upload images to the Morgan's Digital Assets Management System (DAMS). Requires accessing databases, embedding metadata into image files, and after DAMS ingest, reviewing, revising and correcting data when necessary.
Printed Books and Bindings Internship
The Department of Printed Books and Bindings seeks a summer intern to work directly with the Astor Curator on developing two exhibitions prospectively slated for the 2026 United States Semi quincentennial. One of the two exhibitions explores multicultural interpretations of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s (1807–1882) work largely by artists and writers of color, while the other delves into the history and print culture of ragtime music. The successful candidate will assist with coordinating research visits, identifying specialists for consultation, and adding records and sources to an existing body of research materials. They will also help with preparing loan requests, brainstorming event ideas, and developing mockups for exhibition designs. Given the areas of coverage in these exhibitions, strategizing approaches to cultural sensitivity will be critical to the planning stages of their respective development, and the successful candidate would be involved in those conversations. Additionally, this internship will offer the opportunity to learn object management software in a museum setting while gaining exposure to various museum and research library workflows and the overall stewardship of collections, particularly those related to the Morgan’s Centennial campaign.
Public Programs Internship
The Public Programs Intern participates in the Morgan’s exhibition and collections-based programs, including lectures, concerts, film screenings, workshops, virtual programs and gallery talks. The candidate should demonstrate a keen interest in the field of museum education and in the visual arts, attention to detail, and excellent writing and communication skills. The intern will assist in researching and implementing programs, specifically the development of a museum scavenger hunt and college tour. The candidate will support all programs during their internship, and will provide administrative support including attendance tracking, data collection and reporting, and survey collection and analysis. Some evening and occasional weekend hours are required. Physical requirements include being mobile in public spaces for several hours at a time, and lifting, bending, reaching top shelves, and pushing carts. Proficiency in Microsoft Office required. The Public Programs Intern reports to the Manager of Public Programs.
Eligibility
Current enrollment as an undergraduate or graduate student.
Strong interest in a career in the museum or library field.
Eligibility to work in the United States (international candidates must be eligible to participate in a paid internship program in the United States).
Strong verbal and written communications skills.
The Morgan requires all employees, including interns, to have been vaccinated and received booster shots against the COVID-19 virus.
Compensation:
$18 per hour.
The Summer Internship program is onsite at the Morgan with interns generally working up to 28 hours per week, beginning at the end of May and running through the end of August.
To apply:
Interns will be selected on a competitive basis via an application process. The deadline to apply for an internship is April 12, 2024.
To apply, submit the following materials, in English, via email as a single PDF to the following address: internships@themorgan.org (In the subject line please include the following format: First and Last Name – Internship you are applying to)
- A cover letter containing the following information:
- The internship of interest to you. Specify ONE from the following:
- Communications and Marketing Internship
- Drawings and Prints Internship
- Imaging and Rights Internship
- Exhibition and Collection Management Internship
- Printed Books and Bindings Internship
- Public Programs Internship
- A statement regarding your interest in the museum or library field, and your future aspirations.
- A statement about why diversity and inclusion are important to you within the museum or library field, and how this opportunity will assist your career goals?
- Any other information that you would like to provide regarding your candidacy for a Morgan academic year internship.
- Your resume
- The names and contact information of two references (please include the person’s name, title, organization, telephone number, and email address)
Please note that applications received without all requested information, including a cover letter, will not be considered. Candidates selected for interviews will be contacted before April 29, with notification of decision following soon thereafter. No phone calls, please.
About the Morgan Library & Museum
A museum and independent research library located in the heart of New York City, the Morgan Library & Museum began as the personal library of financier, collector, and cultural benefactor Pierpont Morgan. The Morgan offers visitors close encounters with great works of human accomplishment in a setting treasured for its intimate scale and historic significance. Its collection of manuscripts, rare books, music, drawings, and works of art comprise a unique and dynamic record of civilization, as well as an incomparable repository of ideas and of the creative process from 4000 BC to the present.
Support for the Morgan Library & Museum Internship Program is provided by the Themis Brown Endowment Fund and the Rudin Foundation.
The Morgan Library & Museum receives many applications and inquiries for employment. Unfortunately, we are not able to respond to all of them. Due to the high volume of applicants, we can contact only those candidates whose skills and background best fit our needs.
Important to note:
Vaccination Requirement
To ensure the overall health and safety of the Morgan Library & Museum campus, all staff of the Morgan are required to be fully vaccinated and have received booster vaccines against the virus that causes COVID-19, absent qualifying exemptions for medical, religious, or other reasons in accordance with applicable laws.
EEO Statement
The Morgan is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity laws. The Morgan provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.
