Job Description: Curatorial Internship - The Durham Museum

Job Description: Curatorial Internship
The Durham Museum collects items pertaining to the history of the greater Omaha area and the role it has played in the
development of the United States. The collection contains over 500,000 objects, ranging from photos to phone booths, coins
to clarinets and even a pocket watch rescued from the Titanic.
The collection can be roughly divided into fi ve overarching areas:
• Historic Objects (costumes, textiles, tools, ephemera) – many of these items were commonplace during their day, but today
are rarely seen outside of a museum. Such items include apothecary bottles, butter churns, radios with vacuum tubes and
Brownie Cameras.
• Archival Materials (rare books, documents, certifi cates, maps, letters) – documenting important events that occurred in
Omaha such as the Trans-Mississippi Exhibition of 1898, and the Golden Spike Days celebration of 1939.
• Reference Library - books related to the history of Omaha and the West with a special focus on railroad history, pioneer
life, historic architecture, and regional literature.
• The Byron Reed Collection - Compiled by Omaha real estate agent Byron Reed, during the late 19th century, containing
coins, banknotes, documents, books, and maps.
• Photo Archive - contains nearly 500,000 images that document the fascinating history of Omaha from its early days as a
young frontier town to a unique and sophisticated city.
The caretaking of these objects includes museum and archival storage, digitization of records, research, and cataloging. A
team consisting of the Curator, Associate Curator, Photo Archive and Collections Manager, student interns and volunteers
provide care for the collections.
Positions available: Rolling admission (Fall semester/Fall/Spring semesters/Spring semester/Summer semester)
Report to the Curatorial department
Duties:
• Inventory of the Museum’s historical object collection (50%)
• Data entry of collection accession records into Past Perfect Database (30%)
• Intern research project for upcoming exhibitions or utilizing objects from the historical object collection (15%)
• Assist with maintenance and upkeep of the permanent exhibit areas (5%)
• Other departmental duties as assigned
801 South 10th Street • Omaha, NE 68108-3299 • (402) 444-5071 • www.durhammuseum.org

Requirements:
• College student/Graduate student, majors in history, art history, anthropology, sociology, museum studies preferred;
sophomore, junior, or senior preferred
• 10-12 hours per week (schedule is flexible)
• Course credit is encouraged, but not required
• General computer knowledge
• Detail-oriented
• Self-starter
• Cover letter and resume to:
Carrie Wieners
Curator of Exhibits and Collections
801 S. 10th Street
Omaha, NE 68108
cwieners@durhammuseum.org