Intern and Fellow Highlights: Cristina Tejada

Cristina representing the park at an opera performance on Blow-Me-Down farm, a site that is part of Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park

Courtesy of Cristina Tejada

You may have heard of cultural resources, but what exactly does this work entail and what type of work do interns and fellows do? Find out through this intern and fellow highlight series that features the work of our interns and fellows service wide.

Everyone has a personal connection to cultural resources. Cultural resources help us define what makes us human through understanding the evidence we leave behind and continue to create today. This can include anything from archives, archaeological sites, museum collections, structures and cultural landscapes, and resources with significance to a group of people traditionally associated with them.

To learn more about cultural resources, visit the Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Directorate page.

So... What exactly does a cultural resource internship look like?

Interns and fellows work with multiple offices, programs, and parks through partner organizations such as the American Conservation Experience (ACE) and National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE). They work on various projects that range from tribal consultation and policy to telling the stories of women in World War II and even to connecting local communities with public history.

Their work adds value to the National Park Service and supports our mission to preserve for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.

Meet Cristina Tejada (she/her) who is the American Conservation Experience (ACE) Cultural Resources Diversity Intership Program (CRDIP), Curatorial and Education Assistant at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park.

Cristina at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park

Courtesy of Cristina Tejada

Tell me a bit about yourself?

I am from Miami, FL and I have always been passionate about history. During my undergraduate career at American University, I volunteered and interned at different museums and historic sites, so I knew that I wanted to work in a museum setting. After graduation, I had the opportunity to work for the National Park Service and Architect of the Capitol, getting more experience in the field before I decided to pursue a master’s degree in Public History at North Carolina State University. I had a wide range of experiences in the field, especially in interpretation and museum education, but felt like I didn’t have a lot of collections experience, which is why I wanted to pursue this ACE position.

Tell us a little bit about what you do in your position?

My position supports both the cultural resources and visitor services departments at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park. On the visitor services side, I developed both formal and informal interpretive tours of the historic house and monuments on the park grounds. I also contributed to social media and oriented visitors to the site. Most recently, I helped to write a grant that would help fund educational programming centered on the lives of women associated with Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his home/studio in Cornish. Now that the open season has ended, I will be transitioning to more curatorial work, assisting with recording inventory of the park’s collection, performing museum housekeeping of the historic house and exhibition space, and learning basic collections care management.

Cristina pictured in front of the Shaw/54th Memorial, one of the monuments on her tour

Courtesy of Cristina Tejada

If you met a younger version of yourself, what would you tell them about your current career trajectory?

I would tell myself not to stress out so much, and that it is okay to not know where you will be 6 months, 1 year, or even 5 years from now. I would also tell myself to not compare my career trajectory with other people’s timeline, it’s okay if my career path does not follow the same trajectory as someone else’s.

How do you see the field of cultural resources changing in the coming years?

I see a lot more museums and historic sites pushing to diversify their narratives and collections in order to tell more inclusive stories. I hope that these institutions continue this effort in the next coming years.

Where do you see yourself in the future?

I see myself continuing to work in the museum field. I’m not quite sure in what specific area, whether it’s in museum education or cultural resources. But hopefully, I am working somewhere in the museum field.

---

For more information on CRPS internship programs contact Paloma Bolasny at e-mail us

For more information on youth and young adult programs and opportunities in the National Park Service, visit Youth Programs (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)