Elizabeth Perkins Fellowship in Museum Practice & Research
The Fellowship is an intensive twelve-week program in research and hands-on museum practice. The experience includes interaction with museum visitors, providing docent tour services, exposure to museum education, development, and administration issues as they relate to curatorial activity and exhibit development, attending professional staff meetings, and opportunities to meet and network with regional museum professionals. A typical week consists of 1 or 2 days of research and project development activities (including field trips to other museums), 4 or 5 days of giving public tours of the museum's historic buildings, and 1 day of personal time. Field trips are planned by Fellows and appropriate staff and are related to the projects and interpretive themes.
Successful candidates are awarded a Fellowship which includes tuition, books, fieldtrip expenses, and housing for twelve weeks. Fellows also receive a $2,700.
2010 Fellowship Dates
Elizabeth Perkins Fellows arrive on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 and begin training the following day. The Fellowship Symposium takes place on Monday, August 16, 2010.
Program Location
The Fellowship is centered at the Museums of Old York in York, Maine. Settled in 1631, York, Maine is one hour north of Boston, forty-five minutes south of Portland, Maine’s largest city and cultural hub, and ten minutes from historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is located directly on the southern coast of Maine, which offers a density of historic villages and settlements, many having been established in the 17th century. The area also offers extensive beach and recreational activities.
About the Museums of Old York
The Museums of Old York is one of the largest historical museums in Maine. It is the steward of nine historic museum buildings and a significant collection of artifacts associated with the development of southern Maine from pre-history through the twentieth century. With roots stretching back to 1896 and the opening of its first museum building in 1900, Old York is recognized as one of the earliest collecting institutions in New England.
Living Quarters
Fellows are housed in the former servants’ quarters of the Elizabeth Perkins House, a sprawling colonial revival summer estate on the York River, just minutes from the ocean front at York Harbor. Fellowship quarters consist of a wing housing four individual bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a common kitchen/dining area and pantry, a living room, and a large private screened porch overlooking the rear lawn and gardens out to the river. The quarters were added to the original 1730s house in 1926, and offer a Maine “summer cottage” experience. They are basic and comfortable. Cable is provided for internet service and television.
Program Considerations
This program, now in its twenty-second year, was founded to provide students interested in establishing museum and cultural academic careers with the opportunity to conduct meaningful research and present it in a public forum. In addition, Fellows serve as educational interpreters for Old York's historic buildings. The most successful Fellows are self-starters, highly motivated, and seeking to gain professional experience and growth during an intense and rewarding period of residency.
The Fellowship is open to graduate and upper level undergraduate students pursuing museum, preservation, or academic careers. Selection is very competitive, with four Fellowships being awarded each year. Academic credit may be arranged through the applicant’s school.
2010 Fellowship Projects
We seek three candidates who will work collaboratively on a plan to reintegrate Jefferds' Tavern into Old York's operations following construction of a new facility that now serves many of the purposes formerley served by the Tavern. The two-story, six room structure was built c.1754 in nearby Wells, Maine, and moved to York in 1939. While the exterior is largely authentic to its original state, the interior was re-imagined in the fashion of many Colonial Revival "restorations." The Tavern is attached to the new Visitor Center. It is presently available for viewing by visitors and still houses elements of our programs for schoolchildren. By the end of the twelve week Fellowship period, the Perkins Fellows will propose a comprehensive program for the building's use, taking into account its history, its past and present uses by Old York, the needs of current audiences and the challenges facing historical house museums. In addition to this plan, some text will be written and mounted in the tavern to immediately answer frequently asked visitor questions about the building.
We also seek a fourth candidate to work directly with the Librarian and Curator to review, organize, digitize and archive a collection of manuscripts. THis process will involve researching the donated materials in order to develop a finding aid for future researchers. THe Library Fellow will not give tours of the Museum buildings but will instead be trained to assist patrons using the library for genealogical, deed and additional historical research.
Application Procedures
The selection committee bases its decisions on a completed application, essay, two letters of recommendation from faculty or professional references, and a telephone or in office interview. Applicants are not required to be enrolled at an academic institution at the time of their admission to the Fellowship program. Also, since the Fellowship aims to expose young professionals to museum work, previous experience in museums is not required, but does demonstrate a strong interest in the field. Download the 2010 Perkins Fellowship Application or email Programs Specialist Richard Bowen to request an application.
Completed applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on March 3, 2010.
Fellowship Alumni
The Fellowship program has over seventy alumni who live and work in the United States, Canada and Europe. Over 95 percent of past Fellows work in museums and other cultural organizations, including:
Carl Sandburg National Historic Site |
Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Contact Information
For more information about the Elizabeth Bishop Perkins Fellowship, please contact:
Richard Bowen, Programs Specialist
Museums of Old York
P.O. Box 312
York, ME 03909
rbowen@oldyork.org
P: (207) 363-4974 x14
F: (207) 363-4021