Job Listing
 🔗Architectural Historian Intern – 480 hours

  • Internship
  • NCPE Internship
  • Washington D.C., DC
  • $22.00 USD / Hour
  • Applications have closed
  • Department: Heritage Documentation Programs - Historic American Buildings Survey
  • Job Reference #: 4139
  • Job Qualifications:

    Undergraduate degree in architectural history or related field (such as American studies, historic preservation, etc.) with significant coursework in U.S. history and architectural history. The best qualifying candidates will have completed some graduate work.

  • How to Apply:

    Click on the application button at this listing and follow the instructions to apply online. If contacted to follow-up on your application or for an interview, you may be asked to submit a work sample that demonstrates your ability to conduct primary research and analysis of a historic building, site, or structure. Do not include a writing sample with the application.

  • Job benefits: Paid Time Off (PTO); $1,000 Housing Allowance
  • Physical Demands / Work Environment: The job requires some fieldwork investigating historic buildings and landscapes, but most of the work will be sedentary, conducted in an office or archive environment.
  • Contact Name: Catherine Lavoie

Website National Park Service/NCPE Internship Program

The Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) consist of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). The programs document historic sites and structures across the United States through the creation of measured drawings, large-format photographs, and historical reports. Documentation is archived in the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Library of Congress and is available to the public without restriction. HDP is part of the National Park Service’s Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Directorate.

The National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE)’s Internship Program is a partnership with the National Park Service and other Federal agencies with cultural resource protection and public land management responsibilities. The purpose of the program is to accomplish needed and important work on federally protected lands while providing program participants with professional experience in their chosen fields. Interns work under the guidance of agency staff who are subject area experts to carry out the mission of the park.

To be eligible, applicants must be between 18 and 30 years old (or 35 if a veteran) when starting the internship, a college student or recent graduate (within the past 12 months at the time of application), enrolled in a degree-seeking program, and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

The successful candidate will assist in the documentation of historic sites, working closely with Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) historians to undertake fieldwork and on-site analysis, research, and writing of historical reports to HDP standards. Interns will work with a team of architects or independently. The final documentation will be archived at in the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Library of Congress.

The internships will begin in late May or early June 2025 and last for a period of 12 weeks. During this period, the interns will learn to conduct field analysis, research, and writing of historical reports in conformance with HDP guidelines and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Architectural and Engineering Documentation. The internship term will be completed as a full-time position (40 hours per week) with work occurring primarily at the HDP office in Washington, DC.

A background security investigation may be required prior to the start date. All NCPE internships accrue 4 hours of PTO for every 80 hours worked.

Qualified NCPE interns who complete their internships may count their position towards earning a Public Land Corps (PLC) Non-Competitive Hiring Authority certificate.  Once earned, the PLC certificate may be used to apply for eligible Federal permanent, temporary, or term positions. Visit https://preservenet.org/ncpe-internships/ for details about this benefit. Successful completion of the internship does not guarantee Federal employment.