Community Cookbook StoryMap Data Intern

Department: Collections Supervisor: Senior Curator Timeframe: Spring 2026 (February- May) Hours Per Week: 8-15 Location: Minnesota History Center (345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102); Hybrid Project Summary: MNHS has a collection of more than 2,000 Minnesota-related cookbooks. A large portion of these are community or charitable cookbooks, created by community members, usually as a fundraiser for an organization. This project will help enhance understanding of the MNHS Gale Family Library’s cookbook collection by adding geographical data related to the books. The intern will conduct research on the geographical information related to the cookbooks, and record that information for future use in a StoryMap. Ideal Degrees: Public History, History, Geography, Women's Studies, Library and Information Studies, Sociology, English, Art History Responsibilities:

• We need to have good data to create a map of MNHS community cookbooks. The data is based on existing bibliographical information from the library database. The interns will assist with selecting cookbooks for the project, and conducting research to add the following information for each item:
• Region: the general area that the resource comes from
• Address: address of the organization that created the resource at the time it was created. Many of these cookbooks were created by churches, schools or other organizations with a specific location.
• County: county, tribal community or reservation associated with the organization that created the resource.
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Genre: indicates what type of cookbook it is, whether a community cookbook, an advertisement for a product or service, related to a specific Minnesota chef or personality, or a restaurant, inn or resort.
• Themes: indicates the type of organization that created the cookbook, or the purpose of the publication.
• This will require research both online and in the library, using city directories and other tools. It will also require the use of Google Maps for latitude and longitude.
• The intern will need to physically check the books for relevant information, and will need to use critical thinking and primary source analysis skills to work with genres and themes.
• There is an opportunity to write museum-label style entries for particular items or groups of items.

Qualifications

• A detail-oriented person interested in creating digital humanities tools.
• An interest in material culture, culinary or food history, the history of books, women's history, and Minnesota history will be a great benefit to this project.
• It would be an excellent internship for anyone who has taken GIS 5576: Spatial Digital Humanities or other similar course.

Knowledge Intern is Expected to Gain: The internship will provide experience with primary source research in a museum setting, GIS data, library research, primary source analysis, bibliography, and public history writing. They will learn a great deal about Minnesota foodways and culinary history, Minnesota communities, churches and organizations. How to Apply: Send a cover letter, resume, and any required additional materials to [email protected]. At MNHS, we don’t just accept difference--we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on diversity for the benefit of our volunteers, interns, employees, our products and services, and our community. The Minnesota Historical Society believes that an inclusive culture among our team members is critical to our success as a historical society, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. The Minnesota Historical Society is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Apply tot his job Apply To this Job