Volunteer Opportunity, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA

Posted February 5, 2018

Volunteer Opportunity at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, March 5th-9th

Project Title: Preservation Week: Papers of John F. Kennedy: Condolence Mail

Project Description: The 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination combined with the opening of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Papers and the recent publication of popular books using condolence mail has generated more interest in the Condolence Mail Collection over the past few years. The collection was originally processed using a particular “sampling” method that led to a confusing arrangement schema, and upon survey, the collection includes many boxes still containing loose and unorganized material. The established categories made it difficult to find material within the collection. In speaking with Reference staff, the majority of questions relating to this collection are remote and typically involve the search for a letter written by a specific individual, which in the collection’s current state is almost impossible to locate. Since the collection’s original order was lost years ago during the sampling process, Processing staff have decided to reorganize the mostly unprocessed collection alphabetically by correspondent. Work has already started as part of the Library’s “Preservation Week” program and to date we have completed alphabetization, arrangement, basic preservation, final foldering and rehousing of approximately 101 cubic feet of material. We are seeking additional interns to work on this project to help complete the preservation and reorganization of this important and historically valuable collection to make it more accessible to researchers.

Preferred Skills: Understanding of archival arrangement, knowledge of basic preservation techniques, attention to detail, and an understanding of archive researcher needs.

Dates: This Preservation Week will take place Monday, March 5th through Friday, March 9th. Volunteering for the full week is preferred, but a minimum of 2 days will be considered. 

How To Apply: Please send a current resume and cover letter explaining your interest in this project and your availability to [email protected] by February 21st.