Name: Sam Ritter
Class Year: 2027
Major: History
Minors: English, Philosophy
 
Internship Organization: Girard College
Internship Title:   Founder’s Hall Curatorial Intern
Location: Philadelphia, PA
 
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing! 

My internship involved combing through the ship records of Mr. Stephen Girard, one of Philadelphia’s wealthiest merchants during and since the Revolutionary Era. After his death, all of Girard’s papers were packed up and preserved through the centuries, nearly exactly as they were in life. As such, many more records of individual sailors and craftsmen are preserved here, primarily in ship’s logs and wage records. My work extracted information on individual sailors on Girard’s ships Liberty and Superb, his Brigs Sally I, Sally II, and Polly, and various smaller ships he partially owned or worked with. Together with my fellow intern, Vivian Bloom, and two previous interns in 2023 and 2024, our work now grants a full statistical picture of those working on Girard’s ships, people who have disappeared from the historical record in every other case.

Why did you apply for this internship?  

One of the many reasons I applied to and chose to come to Bryn Mawr was its proximity to Philadelphia, one of the most historically rich cities in America. This internship granted me an opportunity to take advantage of that proximity and engage first-hand with Philly history and with the city’s museum scene. I hope to continue research and archive work after graduation; This was an opportunity to add directly to the general historical database and shed light on individuals who do not appear anywhere else in the historical record but who built the Philly economy with their labor.     

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect? 

Before this internship, I did not have a particularly clear understanding of the structure of the historical maritime world, nor did I know exactly who featured within it. This internship taught me quite a bit about historical record keeping, the positions on historical sailing ships, and the kinds of people who did sailing work. One thing that surprised me was just how many countries sailing individuals came from. One particular voyage, courtesy of Brig Modest, had only 4 American sailors. The rest came from Portugal, Scotland, England, France, and Germany, among others. My work on this internship in particular also paves the way to analyze statistics on sailors of color working for Mr. Girard. We only have records of 73 sailors of color (physical description was recorded less than other information), but they served in a wide variety of positions – Seamen, Carpenters, Apprentices, Cooks, even as First Mate. It was a unique experience to uncover these facets of the lives of individuals.  

Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience? 

Unique: There is very little like the environment of working in a small museum, and nothing like working with the Girard collection. The passion everyone has toward the work they are doing and the effort everyone puts in to make things happen is something I have yet to see anywhere else. 

 Museum: While my internship itself was based in the Girard Archives, my place of work also hosted the Girard College Museum. Over the course of my internship, I got a glimpse into its workings, including helping set up a new exhibit!  

Engaging: You would think that going through literally thousands of papers looking for names and dates would become quite dreary after a while. And while it did become monotonous at times, there is something about uncovering the stories of individuals – the first person to do so in centuries – that never stopped feeling special.  

Opportunity: Outside of my internship itself, I also had incredible opportunities to meet other museum and historical leaders around the Philly area. From meeting the woman who led the work to have Philly listed as a UNESCO World Heritage City to listening to presentations at the American Philosophical Society on the impact of nuclear testing on Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific, I had a plethora of unique and unexpected opportunities to engage with the work others were doing parallel to mine.  

Demanding: Trying to finish going through Mr. Girard’s records by the end of the summer was an ambitious goal from the beginning. We managed to do it, but we had to be disciplined to get it done. Furthermore, Girard College is an hour to an hour and a half from Bryn Mawr by public transit. I loved the internship I did, but it really took all of my time and energy to commit to it.  

Career: More than anything else, this internship absolutely fulfilled the promise of career connections and opportunities. Though I don’t know where I will go after college, working at Girard meant I made some invaluable connections in museums, archives, and non-profit work in Philadelphia. Those connections will be beneficial no matter where I go, and could help kick-start a career in museum or archival work.