Southern Collections Archival Intern

Position Overview

Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) specializes in preserving and providing access to collections on the political social cultural and economic history of the American South. From prominent literary figures to leading civil rights activists SCUAs Southern archival collections tell the stories of people from all walks of life and these stories enrich scholarly research class instruction and community connection.

We are seeking an intern to process and describe one or more of our Southern archival collections in compliance with Describing Archives: A Content Standard and guidelines provided by SCUA. The successful candidate will have some knowledge of archival theory and best practices be detail-oriented and comfortable working with spreadsheets. This internship will provide hands-on archival processing experience in an academic library environment under the supervision of a full-time archivist

The Southern archival collections we are currently prioritizing for this internship include:

Martha Sue Thrasher Papers: writer educator and civil rights activist; member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; founding member of the Southern Students Organizing Committee

Donald G. Beisswenger Papers: theologian and activist; co-founded Project Return for people returning to life after incarceration

Harmon Wray Papers: writer and activist for prison reform and anti-death penalty causes

Key Responsibilities

Conduct an assessment of the collection(s) concerning material types date ranges subject matter and preservation issues

Develop an arrangement plan for the collection based on the creator(s) of the collection(s) and research value identifying appropriate series and subseries groupings

Physically arrange and rehouse the collection(s) into acid-free folders and boxes including conducting minor cleaning of documents and replacing rusty paperclips

Identify potential documents for digitization within the collection(s) based on the strengths of material and complementing existing digital collections

Describe the collection(s) in ArchivesSpace using DACS metadata standards and SCUA processing policies including the completion of finding aid notes for scope and content biographical/historical statement and arrangement statement

Qualifications

Graduate students currently enrolled in or recently graduated from a relevant degree program; students in archives and public history programs preferred

Strong attention to detail

Ability to lift 30-40 pound boxes

Excellent time management skills