Research Assistant and Planner

This paid internship is funded by the Serving the City program and is only available to students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center and Fordham College at Rose Hill.

Approximately 15 hours a week, both in person and virtual

Approximately 20% in person and 80% virtual

Start Date:  Monday, January 29, 2024

End Date: Monday, April 29, 2024

            The American Friends of Lafayette (AFL) is an historical and patriotic society dedicated to the memory of Major General Lafayette and to the study of his life and times in America and France. It currently has 800 members in most of the states and France, England, and Germany. The AFL has no paid staff, but has a cadre of dedicated, knowledgeable, and hard-working volunteers.

            The AFL was founded in 1932 at Lafayette College by a group of Lafayette scholars and collectors. The organization's primary exempt purpose is to educate the public about the life and career of General Lafayette through educational programs, publications and lectures. It has published nine scholarly pamphlets. In addition, it publishes the Gazette of the American Friends of Lafayette semi-annually, in which is found both scholarly articles and reports of the various member events conducted by the organization and other Lafayette societies.

            The AFL’s websites are: www.friendsoflafayette.org and www.lafayette200.org 

            As part of its plan to commemorate the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s 1824-1825 Farewell Tour of America in 2024-2025, the AFL is planning to produce a web-based travelogue with 54 stops covering all the places that Lafayette visited in New York City and New York State. The virtual travelogue will be free to the end user and available on any computer or smart device, as well as being activated on a mobile device when each location is approached. Our partner in this work is TravelStorysGPS (www.travelstorys.com).

            The intern will work under the direct supervision of AFL President Alan Hoffman, who is the Project Director of the New York Travelogue project. Hoffman is a Lafayette authority and translator of a first-hand account of the Farewell Tour. See www.lafayetteinamerica.com. The intern will perform both historical research on Lafayette’s visits to New York sites in 1824 and 1825 and empirical research to determine the exact location of sites that are no longer extant. They will also write initial drafts of some of the stories in the travelogue. Additionally, they will interface with institutions like the New-York Historical Society and the New York Public Library to obtain images for the travelogue.

            In addition to the virtual NYC and NY State travelogues, the AFL is planning a series of events to commemorate the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour visits to New York City, Westchester County, and the Hudson Valley in August and September 2024. The intern will assist the Project Director and the AFL’s New York Bicentennial Committees in planning these events.

RESPONSIBILITIES

This intern will be:

• Participating in orientations conducted by the Project Director and by TravelStorysGPS
• Performing historical research on details of Lafayette’s visits to New York sites
• Performing empirical research into precise location of buildings that Lafayette visited which are no longer there
• Photographing existing sites such as Castle Garden and various rooms at City Hall
• Interfacing with museums and other archives like the New York Public Library to obtain images for the travelogue
• Preparing initial drafts of travelogue stories
• Performing other tasks of a similar nature assigned by the Project Director
• Assisting the AFL in planning Farewell Tour Bicentennial commemorations in New York City, Westchester County, and the Hudson Valley

QUALIFICATIONS

An applicant for this position should have an interest in American history and a basic ability to conduct research using primary sources such as newspaper accounts, letters, diaries, and the like, or to learn this skill. The applicant should be someone who:

• Is interested in history
• Has excellent research capabilities
• Has excellent writing skills
• Is a good listener and a good communicator
• Is eager to learn and takes direction willingly

The deadline for applications is January 20, 2024.