Looking For Internship Opportunities?
The Campbell House Museum works in cooperation with colleges and universities to promote education in history, art history, museum studies and other programs. Campbell House interns have gone on the find jobs in museums around the country. A few have even found employment at Campbell House!
Interns may be assigned to focus on a particular facet of the Museum, such as…
- Collections
- Development
- Research
- Educational Programming
- Promotions
- And, more!
However, a broad range of activities will be part of the experience, and the student will receive exposure to various contacts in the cultural institutions industry in St. Louis. As a result, the intern will be better prepared for the “real world” of work.
In recent years interns have worked on projects as diverse as helping establish the Museum’s PastPerfect collection database, a GIS project mapping the Campbell’s Lucas Place neighborhood, research into Robert Campbell’s involvement in the 1851 Fort Laramie treaty and the short-lived U.S. Indian Commission and identification of the Campbell’s art collection.
Internships are generally not paid but are available for course credit. For more information, work with your school adviser and please contact the Museum.
Past Internships - In Their Own Words
My time interning at the Campbell House is hands-down one of the best experiences of my life. The Campbell House is a great opportunity for anyone trying to learn more about guest hospitality, event planning, history, Museum management, all of it. I had an amazing time being a docent and helping organize exhibits and events. I was able to help with giving tours, transcribing letters, research for upcoming exhibits, and set up fundraising events for the museum. It was really nice having my experience here tailored to my area of interests and having a really flexible schedule. Everyone was extremely sweet and welcoming. I would highly recommend this house to students looking to find their passion in museums.
- Zoe L.
Interning at the Campbell House museum was an incredibly rewarding experience. The intimate nature of a small museum like the Campbell House enabled first hand interaction with guests of the museum as well as experiencing another facet through learning about its business and membership management. A huge bonus of working at a small museum such as this is the exposure to the Campbell family’s original belongings which enlivens their fascinating story.
- Chelsey H.
I really liked my experience as an intern at the Campbell House because I was able to work hands-on with the collection. As the collections intern, I completed an inventory by myself of every piece in the whole house, a task that many museums would not entrust upon their interns. This was supplemented by giving tours of the house to visitors where I could share my knowledge of the objects and their history with the guests. Because of this, I was able to see what it would be like to work in a museum every day and it helped me realize that I would like to pursue a career working with museum collections.
- Leslie H.
My two summer internships spent at the Campbell House Museum have been rewarding, educational, and fun. Having the opportunity to work at a small museum allowed me to participate in more important and larger projects that interns might otherwise be able to at larger institutions. Over the last two summers, I have worked on an exhibit to go in the Museum’s special exhibit spaces, and the entire process was mine to conceptualize, organize and design. The diversity of jobs and skills that one learns at a small museum will be more beneficial to my future career in that I will have a background in different elements of museum work. At the Campbell House Museum I was given responsibility and really felt apart of the museum. My opinions were always wanted and considered, which really helped to enhance my feeling of importance as a member of the museum’s staff.
- Sarah H.
Giving tours at the Campbell House Museum helped me learn about the family and St. Louis, which was fascinating. Telling it to others during tours helped cement the information into my mind and better taught me how to mentally organize and present information. Entering Robert Campbell’s letter information into Excel was tedious but gave me a good idea of the immense amount of work that goes into history museums, historic sites, etc. It is exciting to think that there are sources still to be explored and more stories to be told, and I’m glad I could help out with this.
- Hayley S.
Spending the summer as an intern at the Campbell House Museum was extremely enlightening. While my main project was revamping and creating finding aides for the museum’s archives, I was included in several of the other daily aspects of the house; I assisted with the collection inventory, answered phones, helped with large visitor groups and gave tours, just to name a few. But, I must say, that the most impressive thing about CHM was the dedicated staff and volunteers. Never have a met a more friendly and lively group. As a graduate student in a museum studies program, I was excited to be able to be a part of an institution whose volunteers were so involved in the research and history of the Campbells and whose staff allowed me to experience so many aspects of the museum.