Sarah Ulrich - 2024 Summer Internship Grant Awardee

Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia is pleased to announce our awardee for our Summer Internship Grant! Sarah Ulrich will be working for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania under the direction of the Director of Preservation and Conservation Services.

Tell us a bit about yourself, where you are from, and about your internship.

I went to high school in North Carolina, and earned my bachelor's in statistics from NC State. I moved to Philly during COVID and soon after decided that I could pursue a career involving art. I truly wanted the challenge - as well as the meticulous planning, and years of coursework that were required for conservation. This summer I am working at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania with Tara O'Brien, Director of Preservation and Conservation Services.

Why did you choose to work in the museum field? 

While I'm excited to work in the museum field, I did not necessarily choose it. I want to spend my career occupied by meticulous work - something conservators are especially known for. Exhibition designers, curators, archivists, grant writers, and educators all strive to give visitors the clearest and most immersive view of a collection - an unfurling of its stories in front of people. This common aim motivates me to be part of the museum field.

What do you hope to gain from this experience? What are you excited about? 

I am beyond excited to work with a collection, understand its uses, and how it wears and tares. I will be constructing custom archival housing for manuscripts and printed volumes. (Making a lot of boxes - which should be very satisfying.) As well as learning about historic book structures and how to mend them. It's been quite a few years in the making for me - so it's all very exciting. 

What is something you wish someone had told you when applying for internships? 

Everyone has a different experience while hunting for their first internship. The most helpful advice that I could have received is to be selective in the applications you send out. Focus on museums that you have a personal connection with: you've gotten to know someone on staff, visited on a school field trip, written about a piece in the collection, or maybe its mission or curation really resonates with you. Ultimately you have to make a strong case for why you want to work at a particular institution, and you want to put a lot of thought into that argument. Having a personal history gives you a solid place to start on it.