Maeve Losen ePortfolio

Richmond National Battlefield Park

The process I followed while trying to narrow down internship opportunities was rather chaotic. I was at an unsure place in my life and paths in my then-recent future seemed to have led nowhere. During this time, I was attempting to utilize my connections to the Chesterfield County Historical Society, small museums and historical sites, and other sites that I knew people and dealt with historical topics. Then I went out on a limb, with some convincing from my father, and applied to one of the National Park sites in Richmond called “Richmond National Battlefield Park.” A cover letter, resume, one in-person interview later, and I received the call that I got the internship.

During my internship, I was trained by experienced Park Rangers, interpreters, and historians of both Civil War in general as well as Richmond during the war. Overall, I worked over 400 hours from mid-May 2017 to early-August 2017, training and working and learning from professionals about the day-to-day requirements and duties of those who work for the National Park System.

I poured over histories and books, put together formal interpretation of artifacts and sites, researched the role of spies, learned to communicate with the public about the sites and history, and learned skills that one could only receive hands-on. Going into my internship, I was not a Civil War historian, nor do I claim to be afterwards, but I do have a new-found respect for that period of history and a deeper knowledge of its larger context in history that I never learned in school. Overall, I feel like the NPS gave me skills, confidence, and a better understanding of myself and what I want to do in my life.

“Cold Harbor Battlefield Tour, First Version,” Formal Interpretation Tour by Maeve Losen, Summer 2017

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