HIST110: The Historian's Experience

HIST110 is GRADUATION REQUIREMENT for History Majors. It is a zero-credit requirement that all History Majors experience at least fifteen hours of "history outside the classroom." This is a P/F course for 0 credits, and thus no tuition or fees are charged.

You may have already satisfied HIST110. Your academic adviser may determine that you have already completed your HIST110 requirement through one of the following:

A three-credit history or American Studies internship (HIST480 or AMST480).
A history course that includes a significant "outside the classroom" requirement, such as a service learning project or public history activity.
Student teaching for a semester as part of the education program.
Studying abroad or taking a history course with a significant travel component.
An extended volunteer experience with a museum or public history site during your Siena college career (following matriculation, including summers).

All HIST110 experiences must be pre-approved. Please DO NOT ASSUME what may count for HIST110. See your academic adviser for more details.

How to complete your HIST110 requirement:

Please inform your academic adviser where, how, and when you plan to complete your HIST110 requirement.
Register for HIST110 online. If you see a choice of instructors, choose your academic adviser (you may register any time during the semester).
At the beginning of your 15 hours, start completing the HIST110 Forms. Submit the completed and signed forms to your academic adviser.
Your academic adviser will enter a grade of "P" for "Pass" once you have completed your hours and the forms have been completed and submitted.

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES TO COMPLETE YOUR HIST110 REQUIREMENT: Please make arrangements with the museums and historic sites on your own by contacting them via the phone number or Email address provided. Administrators at each of the sites below have been informed of Siena's HIST110 requirement. However, do not assume that the person answering the phone or Email will know about HIST110. Please briefly explain HIST110 and include a link to this page with your initial inquiry. And remember, of course, that as much as you will be assisting these institutions, they are taking time out of their busy schedules to accommodate your needs as well.

Standish Library: (On campus) NOTE: APPROXIMATELY FIVE SPOTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR FALL 2012. The 75^th Anniversary of Siena College is approaching, and the Standish Library is working first on a timeline

and then on a chronicle of the most significant events/news stories in the history of the college. They would like help from history students requiring HIST110 credit, and can give you some guidance to get started. There is a limited number of openings. If interested, please contact Gary Thompson, Library Director, as soon as possible: thompson@siena.edu.

Ten Broeck Mansion: (4.7 miles from Siena). Olcott Family Research Project: The Albany County Historical Association seeks one or two History

110 students to conduct research on the Olcott Family which owned the Ten Broeck Mansion in Arbor Hill, Albany. The home is the headquarters of the Albany County Historical Association. The research will be used to develop a successful living history program that includes first person interpretation. The student will be asked to research and write biographies of Thomas Worth Olcott (1795-1880), Caroline Pepoon Olcott (1797-1867) and/or Dudley Olcott (1838-1919). The research will provide actors/interpreters with the content that they need to develop a first person persona. Students will conduct their research at Ten Broeck Mansion, Standish Library, and potentially the Albany Institute of History and Art, which has a collection of Olcott family papers. Students will prepare a bibliography and write up their findings in mini-biographies to share with Albany County Historical Association and the re-enactors who will develop the first person interpretation. For more information please contact Wendy Burch, Executive Director, Ten Broeck Mansion, wburch.acha@verizon.net and Jennifer Dorsey, Associate Professor of History jdorsey@siena.edu.

Shaker Heritage Society (5 miles from Siena): This was the site of

the original Shaker settlement in America in 1776. They need students to help with two projects: A) Document the Society's photograph collection: Students can enter descriptions of our photograph collection into the PastPerfect database and enter any other information that they have in re: the collection. They already have scans of many of the photos. If time permits, the scans should be uploaded into the database; B) Catalog the library collection: This would include listing all books, pamphlets and other reference documents into an Excel spreadsheet. If time permits, students can also create a form for staff and volunteers to use to track these items (like a check-out form). In addition, you may be asked to search Google for books, libraries, and archives with significant holdings (you will be given direction regarding how to do this).

Working with Mr. Don Rittner, Schenectady County & City Historian, and member of the Schenectady Film Commission. (17 miles from Siena).

Numerous opportunities, including:
A) Countywide Historic Resources Database: to take photos of the building and sites listed in the database and also describe their condition,
B) Schenectady City Directory database: copying the city directories from the 19th century so we can create an online database.
C) Archeological excavations. Going to dig up four different sites,
D) Stockade inventory. A photography inventory of all the houses in the historic stockade of Schenectady.

Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium (General Electric Archives; 12.5 miles from Siena)

Working with Mr. Chris Hunter, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, This is archival work helping to digitize documents, which include the important General Electric archives.

Rensselaer County Historical Society: (5 miles from Siena)

The Rensselaer County Historical Society is located in the Second Street Historic District of downtown Troy. RCHS occupies two adjacent 19th century townhouses - the historic and architecturally significant Hart-Cluett House, home to three families from 1827-1952, and the Carr Building. RCHS has a research library and a number of ongoing exhibitions to provide students with HIST110 work. Please contact Kathy Sheehan, ksheehan@rchsonline.org

Saratoga County Historical Society, Ballston Spa. (Brookside Museum) (23 miles from Siena):

They need assistance with their photograph collection, basically making sure that the list of what is supposed to be in the boxes is correct, and making necessary adjustments.

USS Slater: Destroyer Escort Historical Museum: (6.5 miles from Siena).

HIST110: Data entry from one program to another.
USS Slater always happy to take interns, who are generally tour guides.
USS Slater also often has paid positions, especially in the summer.

Schenectady County Historical Society

(17 miles from Siena)
Creating finding aids for the research library.
Assisting with the Spring History Fair.

Ulysses S. Grant Cottage State Historic Site (35.5 miles from Siena). "In this Adirondack Cottage Gen. Ulysses S. Grant died of throat cancer on July 23, 1885. He had arrived at the cottage from New York City on June 16, 1885, with his family, servants, and doctors; he was able to complete his memoirs in the short time he had left." Inquire at info@grantcottage.org