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Summer Interns Advance Museum Operations and Special Projects

August 23, 2010

More than fifteen interns have supported Longyear Museum’s initiatives in recent years. Each has brought distinct skills, a commitment to studying Christian Science, and a desire to support Longyear’s mission. In summer 2010, Longyear welcomed two full-time interns to support a variety of projects in the Curatorial, Visitor Services, and Facilities departments.

Ben Rowe, a 2010 graduate of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, joined the work of Curatorial and Visitor Services this summer. He previously completed a winter 2009 internship in the Longyear Curatorial department.

“I have been a lifelong fan of Longyear, and I will always support the important work that the Museum does for Christian Scientists and the world,” Ben says. “Longyear presents a dignified and accurate portrait of Mary Baker Eddy, and early workers of Christian Science. It’s exciting to get an education about Mrs. Eddy’s life while contributing to Longyear’s mission.”

This summer, Ben catalogued gifts made to the Longyear collection, and he worked on collections retrieval from vault storage. In support of the Visitor Services department, Ben greeted Longyear visitors, packaged Museum Store orders, and provided administrative support. All the while, his passion for acting was never far away. Ben’s acting talents were greeted with enthusiasm in July when he emceed a trivia game for counselors-in-training who visited the Museum from Camps Newfound Owatonna in Maine.

“Whether he was behind the scenes with our collection, or on stage entertaining the CITs, Ben’s contributions helped to carry out Longyear’s mission,” says Curatorial Manager Laurie Coleman Snead. “Ben’s work, and that of all the Longyear interns, is integral to moving our work forward. And we thoroughly enjoy the time we have with the interns during — and after — their internships.”

Ben will move to southern California this autumn to pursue acting opportunities in the film industry.

Paul Sander was a Longyear Museum intern during the summers of 2009 and 2010. He says he returned to Longyear for a second consecutive summer because of how much he appreciated his first Museum internship. “Longyear has a great museum family. And at Longyear, I have been given opportunities to use my mechanical engineering background while learning about project management,” says Paul. “During both internships I’ve also learned so much about Mary Baker Eddy and the history of the Christian Science movement.”

Paul spent this June, July, and August working with Longyear’s Historic House team and the Museum’s Facilities department. His main focus was using computer aided drafting (CAD) software to draw basic site and floor plans for the Museum and the eight historic houses in the Longyear collection.

When he was away from his drafting table, he did research into the maintenance records for each historic house to help update the Longyear facilities database. Paul also could be found gardening and painting at the Mary Baker Eddy historic houses, and helping with restoration preparations at the Mary Baker Eddy Historic House in Lynn.

“Paul has been a great addition to the Longyear staff during the past two summers. His dedication and loyalty are evident at all times,” said Historic House Project Manager Al Sochard. “He has greatly contributed to the successes of all of the projects he has touched.”

Paul is a 2010 graduate of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. This fall he will begin a Masters program in mechanical engineering at Tufts University. He and his wife, Avery, reside in Natick, Massachusetts.

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