During my internship, I had the opportunity to engage with the rich history of civil rights in Philadelphia, contributing to the ongoing efforts to document and preserve significant sites related to the African American Civil Rights Movement. The internship was structured around a series of key questions and deliverables, each designed to enhance my understanding of civil rights heritage and contribute towards the ongoing effort to populate the African American Civil Rights Network (AACRN) with key Civil Rights sites in Philadelphia and contribute towards the research and writing of nomination for two of the sites. The internship began with foundational work focused on defining “civil rights” in the context of the northern United States and, more specifically, in Philadelphia. I was tasked with exploring the National Park Service Civil Rights framework and key readings such as Up South: Civil Rights and Black Power in Philadelphia. I conducted literature reviews and began building a comprehensive bibliography, engaging with primary and secondary sources to contextualize the civil rights movement within Philadelphia’s unique historical landscape. In the third week, I shifted focus to identifying civil rights sites within Philadelphia. This involved analyzing the Society to Preserve Philadelphia African American Assets’ list of potential sites and determining their eligibility for inclusion in the AACRN. I, along with my fellow research intern, examined the accessibility and physical existence of AACRN sites, identifying those that are privately owned or no longer accessible to the public. In the second month of my internship, I began the process of prioritizing civil rights sites for potential inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places or the AACRN. This involved developing a rubric for site prioritization and visiting key sites on the AACRN potential list. In the final weeks, I concentrated on completing and submitting AACRN applications for two selected sites. The two site I chose to write the nomination for AACRN were the Church of the Advocate and Girard College. These submissions marked the culmination of the research and site assessment work completed throughout the internship. This internship provided valuable experience in the intersection of historic preservation and civil rights history. I gained practical skills in research, site assessment, and application processes, all while contributing to the preservation of Philadelphia’s rich civil rights heritage. The work not only deepened my understanding of civil rights but also equipped me with the tools necessary to advocate for the preservation of cultural heritage in future professional endeavors.
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