HAMPTON, Va. (July 16, 2020) – Three Hampton University students have been selected to participate in the third cohort of the HBCU Library Alliance Summer Conservation/Preservation program, which due to COVID-19 will be conducted virtually. This program is a partnership between the HBCU Library Alliance and the Winterthur University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation.
“Hampton University takes pride in seeing our students persevere and continue to learn during these unprecedented times. We look forward to seeing the success of these students during their internship,” said Hampton University President, Dr. William R. Harvey.
HU students selected for the internship:
- Camryn Johnson– Rising Junior- English Major, Journalism Minor
Virtual Internship Site- Brown University
- Taryn-Marie Jenkins– Rising Sophomore-Journalism Major, Cinema and Leadership Studies Minor
Virtual Internship Site- The Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
- Amarah Ennis– Rising Sophomore- Journalism Major
Virtual Internship Site- Duke University
The interns will collectively attend interactive webinars over the course of eight weeks during the summer. Sessions will be presented each Tuesday at 10:30 ET ending on July 28. The virtual sessions will include presentations and group work. Each intern will be connected with a site supervisor who will be their mentor for a preservation-related research project to carry out over the course of the summer. The interns will each give a presentation about their research project and their overall experience, which will be attended virtually by all site supervisors and any other staff at their respective institutions who want to attend.
Interns will work on a range of possible projects, including:
- Surveying the condition of library collection materials;
- Conservation stabilization and treatment of historical documents, such as humidification and Flattening, surface cleaning, and mending tears;
- Historical research;
- Digitization projects;
- Environmental monitoring; and/or
- Constructing custom storage enclosures for fragile archival materials.
“This is an excellent opportunity to introduce students to possible careers and opportunities outside of what they may experience in their major. Preservation and Conservation is a unique skill set within the Library and Information Science field in which techniques learned can transcend into job training in other fields. I am excited that our HU students will participate in this cohort of the program. We are excited to see what they have learned and work with them on projects for the Harvey Library,” said Tina Rollins, Library Director of the The William R. and Norma B. Harvey Library.
This marks the second time that HU students were selected for the internship. In 2018, HU student Erin Matthews was selected for the first cohort of the program. Her internship was completed at the Gates Conservation Laboratory at the Yale University Library. Erin’s project for the Harvey Library focused on the Harvey Library’s Technical Services and Preservation departments on preservation of the library’s collection of anti-slavery pamphlets.
Funding and assistance for the program was made possible by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the University of Delaware College of Arts and Science, the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware and the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library.