Internships & Volunteering

We rely heavily on the work of volunteers and interns to advance the work of the Archives. Volunteers perform work ranging from data entry and reshelving to cataloging and digitization. We structure the work of interns to help meet students’ educational goals, giving hands-on experience in the real world of community archives.

Volunteer Positions

Volunteers don’t need to know very much about archives to be helpful, but an interest in LGBTQ history is always a plus. We like to work closely with our volunteers to give them the support they need to do a good job. And a regular shift is helpful to ensure projects continue to progress over time. If you’re interested in volunteering in the Archives please contact archives@waygay.org for more information.

Internships for Credit

We have worked with students on internships, practicums, praxis independent studies, and field work. Whatever your college, university, or graduate program might call it, there’s nothing like getting real world experience outside of the classroom. Students who have worked with us have come from a range of departments and majors, including gender studies, history, library and information sciences, public history, and social work. Please contact archives@waygay.org to talk about developing an internship experience that will suit your educational needs.

Paid Internships

Occasionally we have paid internships available to students for specific projects that have been underwritten by donors or foundations. These will usually be for limited time frames and will focus on successful completion of the project. Please check the job announcements for current opportunities or contact archives@waygay.org for more information.

Types of Work

Below are some examples of the kind of work volunteers and interns have completed in the Archives.

Cataloging the pulp fiction collection
Checking in periodicals
Collecting materials from the community
Creating finding aids
Creating research guides
Curating exhibits
Describing collections
Doing research on a topic
Identifying individuals in photos
Interviewing oral history subjects
Inventorying the art collection
Inventorying periodical issues
Lugging boxes
Photographing events
Processing small collections
Rehousing collections
Scanning photographs
Transcribing handwritten documents
Writing copy