The American Historical Association seeks graduate and undergraduate students to work remotely or in-person at the AHA office in Washington, DC, as full-time interns from June 1 through early August 2026. AHA interns work on a variety of projects and gain insight into historical and nonprofit work. Students will be matched with an AHA staff member who will mentor and oversee their work. They will have an opportunity to attend staff meetings and to learn about the day-to-day work of the world’s largest professional association of historians.
Accepted interns will need to receive either a stipend or course credit from their home institutions. We understand this is not possible in many cases, but we cannot accept an intern who receives neither stipend nor course credit.
The following internship positions are open for summer 2026:
Events and Operations
Interns interested in nonprofit events and operations will primarily work with the annual meeting team on planning the 2027 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, the largest annual gathering of historians in the world, and on producing the meeting Program. They may also assist with marketing communications and social media, development support tasks, and the logistics of online events, all typical examples of operations work that occurs at a nonprofit. By the end of the summer, interns will be able to demonstrate knowledge of project management, editing, database management, research in a nonprofit context, and online event coordination. They will also have a clear sense of much of the operational work behind large-scale nonprofit programs.
Teaching with Primary Sources
Interns interested in federal grant administration, the creation of educational resources, teacher professional development programming, and primary source analysis will work with the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Mid-Atlantic and US Territories Region housed at the AHA. Representing five states, five US territories, and the District of Columbia, our TPS region will hold its annual consortium meeting in late July, and interns will be able to participate in the organization and programming of the event. Those who are able to come to DC will be able attend the consortium meeting, meet subgrant recipients, and visit the Library of Congress. Other duties will include communication with current, past, and prospective grant recipients; developing content about Library of Congress collections; and learning about the particularities of administering federal grants, monitoring grant recipients, and reviewing and evaluating final reports from subgrant recipients.
State Education Policy and Advocacy
States across the country are considering major shifts in public education policy with significant implications for K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Interns interested in advocating for history and historians will be involved in monitoring and tracking state-level legislation, writing reports on legislative trends, developing advocacy guides for use by AHA members and the general public, and efforts to support the revision of state standards for history and social studies nationwide. The Teaching & Learning Department at the AHA will work with interns to identify specific projects that balance individual interests and institutional priorities. Potential projects include historical research on legislation affecting history and social studies, patterns and trends in standards revision, emerging trends in state legislation, and focused research on controversies shaping our field. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about basic data analysis and visualization; the history of higher education, public school education, and social studies accountability structures; and multi-year research project development and publication through a close reading of American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools, the AHA’s landmark report.
Interested students should submit an application packet that includes a cover letter, CV or resume, and two references as a PDF through a MY AHA account. In the cover letter, students should include a few sentences about why they are interested in the specific intern position for which they are applying and how they believe working with the AHA as an intern will help them achieve professional, academic, and/or personal goals.
To apply, log into your MY AHA account at historians.org/myaha; click “Available Application Forms” in the AHA Awards, Grants, and Jobs section; and select the “AHA Townhouse Internship” link. If you don’t have an account, create one for free at historians.org/createaccount.
Applications close April 5; applicants will be notified if they have been selected by May 1. Please contact Rebecca West (rwest@historians.org) with any questions.
