Stagville State Historic Site preserves the remnants of the Bennehan-Cameron plantations, one of the largest plantation complexes in North Carolina. By the time of the Civil War, the plantations covered 47 square miles of land. Over 900 people were enslaved on the property. Their forced labor as farmers, craftsmen, and artisans made the Cameron family one of the wealthiest in North Carolina. Today the site is open to the public for tours and special events, all focused on the African American stories of Stagville. Stagville focuses on teaching, researching, and learning about the lives of enslaved people on the site.
This internship is designed to give the intern experience in the field of public history. The intern will work as an interpreter on site, interpreting history with visitors in daily tours and special events. Interpreting the history of slavery and race provokes strong reactions and discussions, so Stagville is a site with challenging and substantive interpretation to learn. In addition to hands-on interpretive work, the intern will have opportunities to contribute to education programming and special events on site. The intern will have the opportunity to work closely with site staff and other site interns, as well as attending additional field trips to North Carolina historic sites.
The intern will also create a digital exhibit on a topic in Stagville history. The intern will work with site staff to determine project topic within the first two weeks of their internship. Suggested topics are either the Reconstruction era Stagville school or historic foodways, gardening, and cooking at Stagville, but staff will consider other topics if proposed by the intern. The intern will research, author, design, and create a digital exhibit on this topic, using digital humanities tools to create an interactive timeline, map, or blog of the stories.
**Must have own transportation
**Preference for a flexible schedule, with the ability to work at least some Saturdays
**Preference for interest in African American history, North Carolina history, and/or history of the American South.
