Baseball Hall of Fame Welcomes 2018 Class of Frank and Peggy Steele Interns to Cooperstown

19 Undergraduate and Graduate Students Embark on Learning Experience of a Lifetime

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Cooperstown is usually the place where all-stars finish their careers. But for the young women and men who comprise the 2018 Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development, the start of a new chapter in their professional lives is just beginning at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Nineteen college students arrived in Cooperstown this week to begin a 10-week study in a variety of disciplines at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum between now and Aug. 10.

Now in its 18th year, the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development offers college undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to work alongside Museum and Library staff members to gain hands-on professional training in a field that closely matches the student’s major. Interns craft leadership and communication skills by attending career seminars hosted by Hall of Fame staff and community leaders, as well as participating in thematic public speaking in the Museum, and research and writing assignments that directly relate to the Museum’s mission.

In all, 19 students hailing from 18 colleges and universities will intern for Museum departments, including curatorial, education, digital strategy, membership, multimedia, photo archives, collections, public relations, library research, sales and licensing and special events. The 19 interns were selected from more than 500 applications from students nationwide.

In addition to completing 40 hours of work each week, interns will participate in a number of career seminars during the program, on topics such as networking, public speaking, community leadership, business etiquette and creating an innovative leadership style. In addition, every intern will host artifact spotlights – brief public presentations with in-depth stories about items in the Museum’s collections – in the Museum throughout the summer.

The internship program began in 2001 and has since welcomed more than 300 interns in an experience made possible by Peggy Steele, who endowed the program in honor of her late husband, Frank, and in his commitment to fostering education and leadership development.

The 2018 class of Frank and Peggy Steele Interns (name/university/department): Lily Brandt, Syracuse University (collections); Meaghann Campbell, Indiana University (library-technical services); Jordan Cohn, Franklin and Marshall College (programming); Dani Dadig, Youngstown State University (membership); Brooklyn Del Barba, University of Kentucky (special events); Sophie Grus, University of Missouri-St. Louis (curatorial); Marisa Hernandez, University of Southern California (library research); Jessica Hollister, University at Buffalo (photo archives); Ivy Houde, Middlebury College (membership); Lauren Lanter, University of Missouri-Columbia (programming); Lauren Phillips, Baylor University (licensing and sales); Bruno Rosa, Berry College (multimedia); Jason Rose, Berry College (membership); Patricia Singletary, Florida State University (programming); Meredith Tomich, Aquinas College (programming); Joella Travis, University of Illinois (library research); Steven Walters, Georgia College and State University (communications); Cal Weisman, Bradley University (membership); and Kelli Yakabu, University of Washington (digital strategy).

Applications for the 2019 Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program will be due on Jan. 31, 2019 and will be available beginning this fall at www.baseballhall.org/education.