With a founding legacy gift by William D. Waxter, Preservation Maryland’s Waxter Memorial Internship Program has grown to engage dozens of students in real-work preservation and diverse public history projects.
Giving Tuesday: Your donation to Preservation Maryland made on Giving Tuesday, Tuesday, December 3, 2019 will support the Waxter Internship Program.
Training a New Generation of Preservationists
ANTHONY PLAGG
Anthony Plaag is currently in his senior year of an undergraduate degree in Public History with a minor in Religion from Stevenson University. Anthony is interested in the intersections of History and Social Justice and believes history can be used as a tool for the liberation of marginalized and oppressed communities. During the Summer of 2019, Anthony worked on two soon-to-be-released blog post series focusing on noteworthy Marylanders as well as Greenbook Sites in Maryland. He will also be assisting with Preservation Maryland’s LGBTQ history project. In his free time, Anthony likes to listen to the sweet stylings of Frank Sinatra, hanging out with friends, and discussing religion, philosophy, politics, and history.
Words of Reflection by Anthony: “After interning at Preservation Maryland this past summer, I got exposed to a wealth of exciting opportunities that helped me realize the radically empowering and transformative relationship between a community and its history. By learning and preserving a community’s history, we can get at the heart of the issues of inequity and injustice. We can tell real human stories connected to real places. We can build real human connections within communities. We can use history and historic preservation as a tool for liberation and creating a better future using real human experiences from our past. The work of history leads us to real stories, real human experiences, and real opportunities to better this world.”
RACHEL RABINOWITZ
Rachel is a born and raised Baltimorian who is currently pursuing an MA in Museum Studies with a Certificate in Digital Curation from Johns Hopkins University. While at Preservation Maryland, she processed digital images and updated the standards as part of the digital archive project. In addition she helped begin the process of inventorying the physical archives for digitization. Rachel holds a BA in History from American University and a MA in Jewish Studies from University of Maryland-College Park. In her free time, Rachel enjoys photography, crocheting, and visiting museums and historic sites.
Words of Reflection by Rachel: “After interning at Preservation Maryland, I was able to gain an understanding of the importance of managing digital and physical archives. I was able to learn from the staff as well as make connections to help jumpstart my career. I hope that I can use the experience and knowledge to help preserve digital artifacts for the future.”
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Benjamin Israel
The initial scope of Ben’s Waxter Internship was to help create a digital image database and archive of Preservation Maryland’s massive collection of files depicting events and historic sites from all across the state. Eventually, Ben moved from that project to helping to launch PreserveCast, Preservation Maryland’s historic preservation-centered podcast where he worked as one of the founding producers. Since his time at Preservation Maryland, Ben transitioned to teaching social studies. He currently works as a middle school history teacher in Montgomery County.
Words of Reflection from Ben: “My experience working with Preservation Maryland helped me to witness how people can use history outside of a classroom and help bring historical understanding to a wider audience. The work I did their advocating for historical places, spaces, and ideas, has informed my teaching to emphasize community in a way that is both mindful of the past, while also looking forward.”