Community Engagement Intern

Visitor and Community Engagement Intern will perform multiple tasks, serving as both a front-line field representative of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site and integral member of the park’s planning and research team. Visitor and Community Engagement Intern will provide interpretation for visitors and facilitate enjoyment of the park by encouraging a sense of understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of resources. They will serve both in the park and the local community, at the visitor center, in the historic core of the park, and on trails to provide interpretive services and educational opportunities for visitors. In addition, HBCUI interns will help build on existing research on African American life at Hopewell Furnace and assist with developing new programming to better highlight the site’s role in telling the story of African America history in this country.

Visitor and Community Engagement Intern will conduct cultural resources research and present both informal and formal programs for visitors of all ages including orientation talks and demonstrations. Hopewell Furnace uses existing community connections, as well as new opportunities, to expand its reach and accessibility to the diverse population in the region around the park. The intern will also play a role in maintaining and expanding these links.

The intern will also incorporate positive change by strengthening community engagement via social media promotion and outreach. The intern will be expected to serve as a member of the park-wide planning teams, to share ideas, provide feedback, and to offer support on the day of programs and events.

Hopewell Furnace desires to develop and present new programming and digital content related to the antebellum African American experience in and around the surrounding area of the furnace. Current narratives provide cursory insight into the park’s proximity to known underground railroad locations, as well as to the site’s original owner as the largest slave owner in Berks County in 1780. Through research conducted by the intern, these and other stories could be further understood and elevated to discuss more broadly the abolitionist movement, and to highlight contradictions to the nation’s professed struggle for liberty and freedom after the American Revolution and before the American Civil War. Beyond these narratives, the intern would take a leading role in conducting research focused on daily life, culture, and community relationships of African Americans living and working in the area. This research will support on-site programming as well as digital engagement through the park’s website and social media outlets.