The Jefferson Library provides opportunities for student interns and community volunteers to carry out research projects. The Intern and Volunteer Program encourages participants to undertake stimulating and educational projects, and the resulting data and texts are frequently of interest and value to other individuals. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation supports these projects, but does not compile the information found therein, and so therefore does not take credit for said content.
How to Participate
For further details about the Intern and Volunteer Program, suggestions for possible projects, and information on how to participate, please see the Intern and Volunteer Program Guidelines (15KB PDF). To see some examples of past projects, please read on.
Sample Projects
Monticello High School Scholars
UVA Public History Summer Interns
Other Projects
Monticello High School Scholars Program
"The Goal of the Monticello Scholars Program is to partner with community organizations to provide exceptional educational opportunities for academically gifted students at Monticello High School." - Monticello Scholars Program Mission Statement
The Jefferson Library has collaborated with students from Monticello High School for several years, resulting in finished products that are valuable to both the students and the library's mission. Below are some of the projects worked on by Monticello High School Scholars.
2003 Project: "Jefferson and Slavery: A Critical Literature Review"
Participants: Hannah Ayers, Reilly Kayser, Jerillyn Kent, Meghan Pianta, Melissa Wilks, and Alexandar Wray-Kerr
Working in teams of two, participants identified relevant literature published between the mid-1700s and 2002, and selections were made of several dozen titles that reflected the mainstream thought as well as trend-setting works and divergent points of view. All works were reviewed and descriptive abstracts composed. Every published work, and its annotation, was entered into the Thomas Jefferson Portal online catalog for worldwide searching. Results may be viewed by entering the phrase, "Thomas Jefferson and slavery (bibliographic project)" -- including double quote marks into the TJPortal.
2004 Project: "Jeffersonian Architecture: The Two Sides of the Coin"
Participants: Elena Samel, Travis Newman, Josh Sennett, Lee Peterson, Amanda Severs, and Reed Hurt
View the finished product here.
UVA Public History Summer Interns
2004 Project: Finding Aid for the Howard C. Rice Research Archive
Participant: Margaret Howard
Description: Finding aid for the Howard C. Rice collection housed in the Mary Clark Rockefeller Special Collections Room at the Jefferson Library, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. Describes the collection of books owned, and research materials created and compiled by Howard C. Rice, Jr., and donated to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1978. The collection includes 55 binders, 4 file drawers, and over 400 books. The focus of the material is Thomas Jefferson in Europe. The 50-page Howard C. Rice Collection Finding Aid is available (740KB PDF).
Other Projects
2003 Project: "Motherhood in the Age of Jefferson"
Participant: Maria Pace (UVA 4th year student)
Description: a survey of published literature pertaining to motherhood and childhood in America, 1775-1825, with special focus on materials known to TJ and his family or examining some aspect of TJ and his family. Several dozen titles were selected as being particularly important or characteristic, and these were reviewed resulting in a descriptive abstract. Bibliographic records, including the abstracts, were entered in the Thomas Jefferson Portal online catalog. These may be viewed by searching the phrase, "motherhood in the age of jefferson" in the TJPortal.
2005 Project: "Thomas Jefferson and Modern Art"
Participant: Susanna Klosko (College of William and Mary 4th year student)
Description: Susanna's project was to discover the ways in which 20th and 21st century artists have responded to Thomas Jefferson's legacy, specifically in the visual arts. The project involved seeking out data for and compiling a spreadsheet listing specific works of art with all relevant data. View her essay (29KB Word document) and spreadsheet (72KB Excel document).