Internships allow college students to establish professional contacts and gain experience related to their majors. Lander University emphasizes the value of them, and Ashley Hampton's experience this summer at the Anderson County Museum is a good example why.
Hampton, a history major from Anderson, worked with museum curator Dustin Norris in creating the new Dixie League Baseball Exhibit, which features memorabilia from the Little League, the Textile League, the short-lived minor league team known as the Anderson Joes, and major league stars such as Boston Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice, an Anderson native who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hampton also worked on two personal projects: an exhibit on Alpha Kappa Alpha, the sorority established by African-American students, and an exhibit on South Carolina's Rosenwald Schools, in which an estimated 74,000 African-American children were educated.
She also gained experience using PastPerfect software, an application for collections archiving utilized by more than 9,000 museums nationwide.
As a result of her internship, Hampton is now open to the idea of working in a museum after graduation. She called it "a great way to communicate historical knowledge in large and meaningful ways."
Norris called Hampton "a great intern. Everyone at the museum appreciated the skills she brought with her, and our hope is that what she learned here will serve her well in the future."
Professor of History Dr. Robert Figueira, who administers history internships for Lander, said that Hampton had "a wonderful learning and work experience." He predicted that "she's going to be one of these stories that the program can really brag about in the future."