New York Historical is excited to continue offering an internship funded by the Marie Zimmermann Foundation, designed to provide hands-on experience for undergraduate students with a strong interest in American decorative arts and material culture.
The internship is designed for undergraduate students interested in learning about the research and study of American decorative arts and material culture and experiencing the day-to-day activities of a large history museum. Zimmermann interns will participate in the hands-on examination and cataloging of collection objects, conduct detailed design, technology, and social history research for new acquisitions and artifacts earmarked for inclusion in upcoming exhibitions, compose blogs related to collection objects and their experiences working with such material, and assist curators in artifact-based presentations. Interns will also participate in the museum’s program of expanding the collection to reflect the diversity of the city and nation today, and assist curators in locating and acquiring evocative artifacts. Research will be conducted both digitally and in-person, when available, at the museum, through The New York Historical’s Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, and at other libraries across New York City. Interns will work under the close supervision of the Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts and Material Culture and interact with other members of the museum’s curatorial and collections management teams.
This internship is intended to support students interested in broadening access to careers in museum collections and curatorial work. Candidates with a demonstrated commitment to exploring historical narratives, material culture, and collections stewardship in ways that reflect a range of perspectives and lived experiences are especially encouraged to apply.
The Fall 2026 program will run from Monday, October 5 through Friday, December 11, 2026.
The intern in this position will receive an hourly rate of $25.00 for the part-time, 120-hour program.
The intern must be enrolled in an undergraduate program, have a strong interest in American decorative arts and material culture, and must have internet access.
To apply, the following must be submitted:
*It is important to read the individual job descriptions as some departments require other materials in lieu of the writing sample.
Please note: Applications that are not complete and submitted by the appropriate deadline (including two letters of recommendation) will not be accepted. Applicants being considered for the internship will be contacted for an interview.
If you intend to complete the internship that you are applying to for credit, you must submit written confirmation from your college stating that you will receive credit for hours completed.
N-YHS is an equal employment opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on merit and organizational needs, and not on race, color, alienage or citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion or creed, physical or mental disability, genetic predisposition or carrier status, reproductive health choices, marital status, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, height, weight, or any other factor protected by law.
These policies apply to all areas of employment, including recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, discipline, termination, layoff, compensation, benefits and all other conditions and privileges of employment in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.
Management is primarily responsible for seeing that N-YHS’s equal employment opportunity policies are implemented, but all members of the staff share in the responsibility for assuring that the policies are effective and apply uniformly to everyone.
New York’s first museum, The New York Historical is a leading cultural institution documenting over 400 years of American history through a peerless collection of art, documents, and artifacts. Our offerings span groundbreaking exhibitions; acclaimed educational programs for teachers and students nationwide; and thought-provoking conversations among leading scholars, journalists, and thinkers about the past, present, and future of the American experiment. The New York Historical is a museum of museums and a collection of collections. We are home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, the Center for Women’s History, the Reiss Family Graduate Institute for Constitutional History, the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Center for Teaching Democracy, the DiMenna Children’s History Museum, and the future American LGBTQ+ Museum. We elevate the perspectives and scholarship that define the United States’ democratic heritage and challenge us all to shape our ongoing history for the better.
