Woody internships open doors to museum world
Through the Charles Center's Woody Internship in Museum Studies, ten William & Mary undergraduates spent last summer exploring potential careers in the field alongside mentors at nine host museums.Now in its 11th year, the Woody program offers students unique opportunities to apply their academic interests to practical research roles within leading museums in the region and beyond, including the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware.
Junior Faith Page, a history major, served as a Woody intern with Preservation Virginia alongside her mentor, Curator of Collections Elyse Werling, at both its headquarters in Richmond and Smith’s Fort, a historic site in Surry County, Virginia.
Tasked with creating a new African American-focused tour at Smith’s Fort, Page’s research took her on the road, from the Surry County courthouse and Surry County Historical Society to the Library of Virginia, in Richmond.
“My ultimate goal in both my career and my life is to educate as many people as possible about African American history,” Page said. “Smith’s Fort is a site that has long held an important place in the Surry community but focused solely on its White history. It was an honor to add the perspective of African Americans with my tour.”As part of her extensive research process, Page met with archaeologists, preservationists, and descendant community members, whose questions and expertise helped her develop a tour representing important untold stories of individuals connected to the site. She will present her work in a special Black history tour of Smith’s Fort and Gray’s Creek Farm through Preservation Virginia to be held Oct. 26, Nov. 9, and Dec. 14.
Looking to the future, Page said, “I am confident in my intention to work in museums, but I am still trying to find what my dream role within the museum field could be. My internship helped me clarify the aspects of different positions that I am interested in.”
History major Natalie Lopez ’25 completed a research-intense Woody internship at Richmond’s Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC), where she worked closely with Dr. James Herrera-Brooks, Melanie Trent De Schutter library director. Lopez was charged with assembling a guide to manuscripts and broadsides for an upcoming exhibit on Virginia immigration.
“I feel that everything I learned was incredibly valuable,” Lopez said. “It bolstered my confidence and capacity as a researcher.”Over the course of her 10-week internship, Lopez found herself introduced to a wide range of colleagues whose varied roles, training, and backgrounds collaboratively combine to make a complex world-class museum function as a coherent whole.
In addition to conducting independent archival research, Lopez gained experience in artifact conservation, visitor engagement, and special events. “It made me aware of other similar career trajectories and routes that I had not thought of before,” Lopez said.
This multidimensional and unpredictable experience offered by a summer internship is exactly what Dr. Carol Woody ’71 and Robert Woody, intended when they initiated the program a decade ago.“When you go off to a museum, yes, you’re going to see lots of pretty and beautiful things,” Carol Woody said. “But it often comes down to who you’re going to call when the plumbing is leaking, what you’re going to put into your newspaper advertising – the practicalities of museum work.”
“It’s the depth and variety of experience that we wanted to make possible for students,” Robert Woody added.
In Summer 2025, the Woody internship program will continue to expand its reach beyond Virginia, offering opportunities at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, and at the nation’s oldest museum, the Charleston Museum, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Applications for Woody Internships in Museum Studies open Nov. 1, with a deadline of Dec. 1.
