CWI Funded Internships
Applications for the Summer 2026 Funded Internship Program are now open!
CWI's Funded Internship Program offers Gettysburg College students a special opportunity to do paid work on the frontlines of history, giving public tours of iconic historic sites, gaining hands-on experience with original artifacts and documents, leading educational programs, supporting public programming, assisting with the preservation and management of historic landscapes, doing policy and marketing work, and contributing to ongoing digital history initiatives.
Participants receive a $2,750 stipend (at minimum; some positions offer higher compensation) from the CWI and free housing near their internship sites.
The CWI Funded Internship Program is open to matriculated Gettysburg students (including graduating seniors), but the available positions are centered in history, museum studies, archives, and historic preservation; successful candidates for these positions generally have coursework and/or extracurricular activities that demonstrate interest and previous experience in related fields. Some of these internships can support academic studies in other parts of the curriculum, however, and students from a wide range of majors have succeeded in this program, gaining valuable experience in public speaking, communicating with diverse audiences, program development, digital communication, etc. The Funded Internship Program is administered according to Gettysburg College’s nondiscrimination policy, details of which can be found on the Admissions/Financial Aid website.
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Several focused programs exist under the umbrella of the Funded Internships Program, such as the Brian C. Pohanka Internship Program; the Gallagher Internship Program; and the Kuhn Internships. The Pohanka Program, CWI's flagship internship program, was established in in 2011 thanks to the generosity of the John J. Pohanka Family Foundation. The Pohanka Program, which has to date served more than 100 students, supports long-term partnerships between Gettysburg College and a wide range of the nation’s most high-profile Civil War sites. The Gallagher Program supplements the Pohanka Internships through providing focused support for student career opportunities in the field of historic preservation and battlefield preservation. The Kuhn Fellowships support student internship opportunities in museums, historical organizations, and cultural institutions in Washington, DC, and the Willen Internship in Civil War Medicine makes possible a student experience focused on the medical aspect of the American Civil War.
Alumni of the Funded Internship Program come away from their summer experiences with a greatly expanded awareness of the career options available to students with academic training in history and increased commitment to engaging public audiences in meaningful dialogue about the past. Many have gone on to enroll in graduate programs in history, public history, and historic preservation. Former interns have pursued graduate work at Oxford University, Columbia University, the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, West Virginia University, University of Massachusetts, UNC Greensboro, Simmons College, Duquesne University, Eastern Illinois University, American University, Middle Tennessee State University and more, and significant numbers have found full-time permanent employment in the field of public history. Many Funded Internship Program alumni are profiled on our Where Are They Now page.
Support the Brian C. Pohanka fellowship
Support the Gary W. Gallagher Internships
Partner Sites
* indicates partnering in 2026
Adams County Historical Society *
Andersonville National Historic Site
Antietam National Battlefield *
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park *
Boston African American National Historic Site *
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area *
Boston National Historical Park *
Catoctin Mountain Park & Catoctin Furnace Historical Society *
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park *
Civil War Defenses of Washington
Eisenhower National Historic Site *
Fort McHenry National Monument/Hampton National Historic Site
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park *
George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon *
Gettysburg National Military Park *
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Land Conservancy of Adams County *
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument *
Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
Manassas National Battlefield Park *
Minute Man National Historical Park
National Archives & Records Administration
National Museum of Civil War Medicine *
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation*
Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation*
Petersburg National Battlefield *
Reconstruction Era National Historical Park *
Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites *
Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center *
Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage *
Special Collections & College Archives, Musselman Library *
Stratford Hall Historic Preserve *
Susquehanna National Heritage Area *
Valles Caldera National Preserve *
Vicksburg National Military Park
Women's Rights National Historic Park
Applications for the Summer 2026 Program are now open!
The application deadline for 2026 is FEBRUARY 9 (note that deadline has been extended); virtual interviews will run from FEBRUARY 11-19.
Full descriptions of each position, including transportation requirements, and instructions for applying are available in Handshake (simply search for "Civil War Institute" positions). The CWI Funded Internship Program is open to all students on campus, but the available positions are centered in history, museum studies, archives, and historic preservation; successful candidates for these positions generally have coursework and/or extracurricular activities that demonstrate interest and previous experience in related fields.
Students should carefully consider their interest in individual positions before applying, but are encouraged to cast a wide net and apply for as many as meet their interests (and are doable from a transportation standpoint). If applying for multiple positions, please take note that your cover letter should be specifically tailored for each individual position (with the exception of the National Park Service positions; your cover letter for that one may be more broadly focused on the spectrum of NPS positions available).
As students move through the application process in Handshake, they will be prompted to schedule an interview time for each position for which they have applied. Please make sure that you’ve double-checked your schedule for conflicts before selecting your interview times, and that you immediately place these times on your calendar. Since interview etiquette and responsibility in planning are key skills developed through internship experiences, applicants who fail to appear at a scheduled virtual interview without prior communication, or who repeatedly request last-minute changes to the interview schedule will have future interviews canceled.
Questions about the application and scheduling process may be directed to Triada Chavis at tchavis@gettysburg.edu. Questions about individual positions or the broader nature of the program should be directed to Dr. Titus at jtitus@gettysburg.edu.
FIRST-TIME APPLICANTS are strongly encouraged to attend the Resume & Interview Prep Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, February 3 at 4:00 pm in GLAT 103.
Eligibility Information
The Funded Internship program is open to all matriculated Gettysburg College students regardless of major, although first-year, sophomore, and junior students receive priority in the selection process, and is administered according to Gettysburg College’s nondiscrimination policy, details of which can be found on the Admissions/Financial Aid website.
About Brian Pohanka
Brian C. Pohanka (1955-2005)
Brian Pohanka was a graduate of Sidwell Friends School and Dickinson College, where he majored in history. His passion for 19th and 20th-century military history and Civil War reenacting was legendary, and he was widely recognized as a leading authority on the Battle of Little Bighorn. The internship program, which makes it possible for students to spend their summers at sites that played a huge role in Pohanka’s life, cultivating conversations with public audiences, is a fitting tribute to his legacy.