The Center for Legislative Archives

Internships Opportunities with the Center for Legislative Archives

Public outreach internships

Public outreach interns at the Center for Legislative Archives work on a variety of projects along with outreach staff that develop research and writing skills, expand students' understanding of history, politics and government, and provide opportunities to explore a variety of career paths.

Public outreach interns work with the Center's outreach staff on a variety of projects, including:

  • Research on the first through fortieth congresses to supplement our upcoming publication, Congress and the Shaping of American History. This publication examines the role of Congress during six major events in American history.

  • Lesson plans and curricular materials for the Center's web site based on original House and Senate documents

  • Archival description of congressional records

  • Featured House and Senate documents for the Center's web site

  • General research in the records of Congress to support outreach programs

Intern assignments on these project include: historical media research, research on historical figures or events, research on institutional changes and developments in government, image research, policy research, writing research memos, creating educational materials, composing informational text boxes, or creating charts, graphs and time lines.

Interested students at any educational level may apply for a public outreach internship. Applicants with strong writing skills and an interest in history, political science, legislative politics, public policy, education, public history or communication are welcome. For information on how to apply, please visit How to apply for an internship with the Center for Legislative Archives.

Archival Internships

Archival interns receive training from the Center's archivists on a variety of projects, including:

  • Description of archival records

  • Reference requests from researchers

  • Creation and digitization of finding aids

Students with the appropriate skills may also work on proposals for maximizing the archival utility of the Center's web site.

Archival interns often come to the Center to gain hands on experience during their graduate studies in Archives and Library Science programs. However, all students with an interest in this field are encourages to submit an application. For information on how to apply, please visit How to apply for an internship with the Center for Legislative Archives.

All other internship opportunities at the National Archives and Records Administration.

Find More Internships at the National Archives

Interns' Experiences


The Center for Legislative Archives has hosted over seventy-five interns over the last ten years. Each intern has left the Archives with a unique experience.

Interns' experiences


Eric"While working at the Center, I was able to see how its outreach staff brings the history of Congress to the American people through programs like the "House Fellows" workshops for secondary school teachers." ~Eric

More about Eric


Emily"The hands-on approach, which characterizes the CLA's philosophy towards their interns, allowed me to do everything from investigating Congressional legislation to helping with researcher requests to seeing some of the peerless documents which constitute our country's history." ~Emily

More about Emily


Lauren"My internship at the Center for Legislative Archives provided me with the tools and experience necessary to achieve my goals." ~Lauren

More about Lauren

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