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 My name is Alison Schaefer and I’m the summer 2025 FOA Conservation Intern at the State Archives of North Carolina. I’m currently a student at the North Bennet Street School in Boston studying bookbinding and book and paper conservation. I came to the Archives to gain experience with the real-world conservation of archival materials as I work toward my goal of becoming a conservation professional. I've spent the last several weeks in the Archives' lab building custom enclosures for collection items and performing conservation treatments under the supervision of the lab’s staff. My primary assignment this summer was to build new housing for several objects from the Archives’ Vault Collection. I was able to expand my knowledge of archival housing and build several new and exciting enclosures for this historic collection. 

Hello, my name is Clara Booker. I am presently a dual-degree student pursuing my Masters of Public History and Library and Information Science at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill, respectively. This summer, as a Friends of the Archives (FOA) intern at the State Records Center (SRC), I am arranging and describing the Learning Institute of North Carolina (LINC) record group which has sat unprocessed since the late 1970s. LINC was an important quasi-state agency in the 1970s which spearheaded experimental educational initiatives, for example, HeadStart, the Carolina Boys Camp, and the Child Advocacy Support Program. In the past 6 weeks I have surveyed, appraised, arranged, and redacted records on the Carolina Boys Camp.

I chose to intern at the SRC because of my passion for archives and government records. After serving as a data steward for the U.S. Geological Survey and a library assistant for Arlington County Public Libraries, I wanted hands-on experience processing archival materials. As an emerging public historian, the FOA internship has provided me the opportunity to put into practice the theory I studied in my first year of graduate school.