— Eighteen students begin summer of a lifetime in Cooperstown —
(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Although most get the call to the National Baseball Hall of Fame at the end of their careers, the young women and men who comprise the 2022 Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development are headed to Cooperstown to begin their professional lives.
Eighteen college students arrived in Cooperstown last 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. 5.
After a two-year in-person break due to COVID-19, the Steele Internship Program returns this year for its 20th year. The program provides interns hands-on opportunities to work with Museum professionals in a field that closely matches their major.
Overall, the internship will include 18 interns from 16 different colleges and universities. The interns will work in different Hall of Fame departments such as collections, communications, curatorial, development/membership, education, library research, licensing, sales & marketing, manuscript archives, photo archives & digital collections, public programs, social media, and special events. Over 500 students nationwide applied for the internship program.
Alongside their work within the department, the interns will complete a variety of tasks throughout the 10-week program. Every intern will host artifact spotlights, giving Hall of Fame visitors insights into artifacts and items through public presentations with new stories. The interns will participate in career seminars with baseball professionals and work Induction Weekend.
Since the program began in 2001, more than 400 interns have worked at the Hall of Fame and gained experience through Peggy Steele, who founded the program in honor of Frank, her late husband, and his commitment to education and leadership.
The 2022 class of Frank and Peggy Steele Interns (name/university/department): Casey Barrasso, Syracuse University (membership); Hannah Blank, University of Delaware (collections); Alexa Brown, University of Oklahoma (education); Conor Chesterman, Syracuse University (membership); Pam Cummings, Louisiana State University (manuscript archives); Kylie Dasher, University of Alabama (public programs); Nicholas DiGrispino, University of Illinois (library research); Evan Gerike, Indiana University (public relations); Justin Hill, Vanderbilt University (public programs); Rachel Jacobe, Simmons University (library research); David Lewis, Boston University (curatorial); Ian Oliver, Rice University (public programs); Nigel Ray, Hampton University (membership); Larkin Richards, Penn State University (social media); Sam Slackman, Rutgers University (licensing, sales & marketing); Chrissy Van Allen, St. John Fisher College (special events); Chris Wright, Worcester State University (public programs); Ruth Xing, Syracuse University (photo archives).
Applications for the 2023 Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program will be available this fall at baseballhall.org/education and are due on Jan. 31, 2023.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is open seven days a week year-round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. From Labor Day until Memorial Day Weekend, the Museum observes daily regular hours of 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Ticket prices are $28 for adults (13 and over), $22 for seniors (65 and over), and $17 for juniors (ages 7-12) and $19 for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, and AMVets organizations. Members are always admitted free of charge and there is no charge for children 6 years of age or younger. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. For more information, visit our website at baseballhall.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200.