Internship Opportunity

Judge Thomas Proctor Hughes and Tom E. Nelson Families Museum Internship

Description: The Williamson Museum is located in Georgetown, Texas, 30 miles north of Austin. The Williamson Museum is housed in the 1911 Farmers State Bank building and serves as the county history museum. The Museum Intern’s main duties will be to assist with the research, cataloguing, photographing, digitizing, organization and the updating of information in the Museum’s collections database (PastPerfect). Working under the supervision of the Curator, the intern will be assigned collections management projects to complete both independently and as part of a team. In addition, the Intern will be able to assist in the installation of a major exhibit and have the opportunity to research and install a small exhibit independently. Other duties will include working special events, which may require times other than regular office hours (Tuesday through Saturday). This internship program is named for and is established to honor two Williamson County pioneering families: the Judge T.P. Hughes and the Nelson families. To learn more about The Williamson Museum, visit our website at www.williamsonmuseum.org.

Required Qualifications: Applicants are required to have completed or working to complete a master’s degree in museum studies, public history, archival studies or other related field. Preference will be given to applicants with experience in a historical organization or museum. All applicants must demonstrate organizational skills, strong communication skills, the ability to manage multiple tasks, and the ability to work independently as well as in a group.

Compensation: The Intern selected will be awarded a stipend of $4300, based on a 40-hour workweek. The length of the internship is negotiable with a minimum length of 3 months full time. Internships can also be completed for course credit depending on school requirements.

Dates of Internship: The internship may be scheduled any time from May 2010 through the end December 2010.

How to apply: For consideration, please send letter of interest and resume with three (3) references to Lisa Worley, Curator at The Williamson Museum, by email to lworley@williamsonmuseum.org, or by fax to 512-943-1672. Applications should be received by March 30, 2010.

Books for Texans Book Club

Books for Texans met last night at the Georgetown Public Library. The book club meets every third Tuesday of the month (7pm in the Hewlett Room). We discussed Liar's Club by Mary Karr. Mickie and I really liked the book. I thought it was very well written. Of course, the story isn't something that I would classify as happy or even uplifting, but good nonetheless. The book club members were just about split on who liked it and who didn't.

We'd love it if you could join us for book club. We did something a little different this year-- we picked books for the first six months.

Here's what we're going to be reading over the next few months.

March: Spanish Texas, 1591-1821 by Donald E. Chipman and Harriet Denise Joseph

April: Off the Beaten Trail by William Edward Syers

May: The Kings of Texas: The 150-Year Saga of an American Ranching Empire by Don Graham

June: Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin

We hope to see you soon!

The Salon-- tonight (February 10)

Tonight's Salon at Wildfire features Gene Davenport, the executive director of The Georgetown Project. Gene plans to speak and answer questions about the issue of childhood homelessness, especially as it relates to Georgetown.

We hope to see you tonight @ 6:30pm.



Next month's Salon is March 10, and Gary Chapman from the LBJ School of Public Affairs will be on hand to discuss "Three Big Things Being Changed by the Internet Now."

Fighting Back

Thursday night we held the members' only preview party for the new exhibit: Fighting Back: The 1923 KKK Trials. We had a packed house with over 70 people in attendance. We send a shout-out to Wildfire Restaurant for the wonderful food, Cindy Anderson for the drinks, and Lisa David (Williamson County District Clerk) for bringing the original trial documents for everyone to see.

Friday night was, of course, First Friday in downtown Georgetown. Fighting Back drew big crowds (well, and the food and drinks) and we had over 300 people visit us between 6:00 and 8:00 pm. Today, the Austin American-Statesman featured an article about the exhibit.

Here are a couple of photographs of the exhibit. Come by and see it for yourself!

New Exhibit!

It's done! We finished installing the last piece of our new exhibit this morning, right before docent training started. Tonight is the members' preview party at the Museum. Tomorrow is the official opening day in conjunction with First Friday. We hope that you can visit us soon and see Fighting Back: The 1923 Ku Klux Klan Trials for yourself.

Here's what you'll see if you come in today. (Check back in the next couple of days for images of the exhibit.)