Truman students interested in working with historical documents or considering a career in archival work can be a part of the Judicial Archives Project, a unique learning opportunity at Truman State University.
For this internship, students prepare public records from northeast Missouri for preservation. Typical projects include cleaning, repairing, processing, and indexing nineteenth-century records from county courthouses.
The initial projects involve working with circuit court files that range in content from common debt to murder and mayhem. Issues encountered include property rights, commerce and slavery, among many other social and cultural themes including the impact of the Civil War.
Students are introduced to basic archival techniques and paper conservation under the direction of a professional certified archivist and staff from the Missouri State Archives.
The internship opportunity is offered each semester including the summer session, and students can participate in multiple semesters. Students can earn one hour of credit for every 40 hours worked during an academic term. Between two and four hours of academic credit can be earned on this particular internship (a total of six credit hours earned on internships can be applied to the History major). Instead of participating in the project for credit, students may also participate to fulfill work-study or scholarship-hour requirements.
PHOTO: Our judicial archives interns in Jefferson City presented boxes of their work to the State Archivist, John Dougan. He is the second from the right. Others: Mary McIntosh, our onsite archivist from the state and interns Racheal Kissee, Katelyn Johnson, Caitlin O’Leary, and Candice Alcatraz. William LaChance is in the back.