Open doors for others. Physically/Metaphorically
On September 24, Deqah Hussein, urban history scholar and architectural historian; Kristina Damschen Spina, VP of Marketing for Indow; Sara Dickey, Associate Directory of Business Operations for More Than Words; and Sehila Casper, Heritage Tourism Program Coordinator for the City of Austin and Board Member for Latinos in Heritage Conservation had a conversation on how to foster the next generation of cultural resource workers and how being supported by these programs shaped their careers. Watch the video above to view a recording of the conversation.
As the field assesses how the practice can shift to better represent our communities, we must also ask ourselves how we can meaningfully cultivate and foster cultural resource workers. Internships, fellowships, scholarships, etc. all exist in our toolkits, but these tools should be reevaluated to better encourage people to consider pursuing a career in cultural resources or to feel supported and empowered to start a career in this field. It was a pleasure to moderate this panel discussion as a part of the #DismantlePreservation: Let’s Keep Talking series.
I would like to give a big thank you to Indow for sponsoring this session. Indow has supported emerging professionals through events at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s conference - PastForward, launched the Window Zine, and coordinated their own internship programs. I appreciate their continued commitment to cultivate opportunities for emerging professionals.
To help you learn about scholarship/fellowship opportunities, best strategies to establish an internship program, and more, I worked with the speakers to create a resource guide! This list is meant to be a living document, so feel free to email me@sarahmarsom.com if you have any suggestions.
Program Development/Implementation Resources:
FAQ for Organizations Starting a Scholarship Program, while this article focuses on academic scholarships the thought process can benefit other types of scholarship programs.
“Quar-interning”: choosing and managing a productive digital internship during COVID-19; you can also consider the possibilities of remote internships outside a pandemic
ELI Guidance on Mentoring: considerations and practices for a fruitful mentoring relationship between the mentor and ELI intern mentee.
Virtual mentoring supplement: Tips & Resources to support a remote mentorship experience.
Sample Internship Plan, shared by Thesis
Opportunities
This list is created in an effort to help people easily find opportunities that may help them as an emerging professional. Inclusion of these fellowships, grants, and scholarships is not an endorsement of any particular organization or program.
Fellowships/Grants/Internships:
American Antiquarian Society offers both Short Term and Long Term fellowships
E. Geoffrey and Elizabeth Thayer Verney Fellowship: “In an effort to enhance the public’s knowledge and understanding of the heritage of Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Nantucket Historical Association offers an annual fellowship, the E. Geoffrey and Elizabeth Thayer Verney Fellowship.”
Getty Foundation offers a variety of residential grants and fellowships for scholars from around the world.
Graham Foundation Individual Grants
Production and Presentation: “These grants assist individuals with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, and new media projects.”
Research and Development: “Research and Development Grants assist individuals with seed money for research-related expenses such as travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other development costs. Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, and budgets.”
Harrison Goodall Preservation Fellowship: “The fellowship is a short-term opportunity to pursue a unique self-directed project under the guidance of a mentor. Fellows will receive recognition for a distinguished achievement while creating original preservation training content, performing research, or enhancing leadership and management skills.”
JMK Innovation Prize: “The J.M.K. Innovation Prize seeks out innovators who are spearheading transformative early-stage projects in the fields of the environment, heritage conservation, and social justice.”
Kress Foundation Fellowships: “Competitive fellowships supported by the Kress Foundation are awarded to art historians and art conservators in the final stages of their preparation for professional careers, as well as to students of art history and related fields who are interested in art museum education and curating.”
Pocantico Center Preservation Fellowship: “The Pocantico Center Preservation Fellowship is a two-week residential fellowship in historic preservation that provides the opportunity to reside and work in the historic Marcel Breuer House at Pocantico Hills, NY”
Richard L. Binder Award: “The Richard L. Blinder Award will be presented biennially to an architect or other professional in a related historic preservation field for a proposal exploring architecture and preservation.” The Fitch Foundation also offers fellowships for mid-career professionals
Society Architectural Historians
Annual Conference Fellowship: “Each year, SAH awards approximately $25,000 in fellowships to graduate students, international speakers, and independent scholars presenting at the SAH Annual International Conference. Each fellowship award is up to $1,000 and is a reimbursable stipend to be used to offset costs of conference registration and travel, lodging, and meals directly related to the conference. “
H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship: “The Society of Architectural Historians’ prestigious H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship will be offered for 2020 and will allow a recent graduate or emerging scholar to study by travel for one year.”
Latino Heritage Internship Program: “The Latino Heritage Internship Program (LHIP), created by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered in partnership with Environment for the Americas, is designed to provide internship opportunities to young adults in diverse professional fields in the National Park Service. The program helps raise awareness of our national parks and historic sites, their accessibility, and the need for the Latino community’s involvement in their preservation.'‘
Scholarships:
Ask academic institutions and local/statewide/regional/national conferences if there are scholarships available. For example, Eastern Michigan University offers a scholarship in partnership with the Detroit Area Art Deco Society for students pursuing a degree in historic preservation (link).
Association for Preservation Technology
APT Conference Student Scholarships: “Through the Student Scholarships Program, students from all areas of study in the field of historic preservation/conservation submit abstracts that illustrate research or a project that they have developed to address an aspect of preservation/conservation technology. Scholarship recipient selection is based on: the quality of a submitted abstract; how well the concepts demonstrate excellence in the student’s area of study; a personal statement; and, the appropriateness of the subject to the Conference theme. “
MARTIN WEAVER SCHOLARSHIP: The APT Student Scholarship Committee will award the Martin Weaver Student Scholarship to a student scholarship recipient as a research grant for $1,500 that is funded by the APT Endowment.
Historic Preservation Memorial Guild Scholarship: “This scholarship is for a student who intends to pursue a career in or closely related to historic preservation. The student may be in their undergraduate or graduate studies, majoring in order of preference, in historic preservation, architecture, or history education at an accredited university or college.”
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Diversity Scholarship: “The Diversity Scholarship Program supports the attendance of leaders from underrepresented communities new to preservation and of emerging preservation professionals at the National Trust's annual conference, PastForward.”
Mildred Colodny Diversity Scholarship: “Up to $15,000 towards graduate school tuition; a paid summer internship with the National Trust following the student's first year of study; and support of the student's attendance at a National Preservation Conference or other National Trust training opportunity. “
Act Six: A top-flight leadership development initiative offering full scholarships for emerging urban and community leaders who want to use their college education to make a difference on campus and in their communities at home.
Oregon Specific:
Ignite: A scholarship program developed in partnership with Portland State University and Kaiser Permanente, Ignite supports pre-health students in reaching their healthcare career goals. Offering a network of support for service-minded diverse leaders, Ignite scholars provide mentoring for aspiring pre-health students.
City Builders: Creating scholarship opportunities, in partnership with Warner Pacific University, for students with passion and a vision to transform their community. City Builders awards are partial scholarships. To inquire more about how to apply, contact us at info@portlandleadership.org
American Association for State and Local History offers:
Douglas Evelyn Scholarship for Diversity: “The scholarship includes annual meeting registration fee, a one-year individual membership in AASLH, and $700 toward travel and hotel expenses.”
Small Museums Scholarship: “scholarships to any AASLH members who are full-time, part-time, paid, or volunteer employees of small museums. Each $500 scholarship will cover the cost of the conference registration and the Small Museums luncheon. Any remaining funds may be used to offset travel and/or lodging expenses.”
Victorian Society in America offers full and partial scholarships to attend their summer schools.