Former HNOC Interns Receive Full-Ride Scholarship Offers
Cederick Ellis and Jasmine Christopher, 2024 Archives and Special Collections Practicum interns, share how their experiences at HNOC have already shaped their budding careers in public history.
Each year, the Archives and Special Collections Practicum at HNOC presents an opportunity for aspiring public history professionals to immerse themselves in the field through hands-on engagement with our collections. The curriculum emphasizes practical skills and professional development in key areas such as library and information sciences, archival management, research and writing, curation, and collections care.
The program has paid off for two recent HNOC interns, both of whom have received full-ride scholarship offers for their graduate studies. Cederick Ellis and Jasmine Christopher, two of HNOC’s 2024 Archives and Special Collections Practicum interns, recently shared their happy news, thanking HNOC and its intern program donors for helping to launch their careers in public history. As Ellis wrote in a letter to HNOC:
I can’t believe how much my time at the Historic New Orleans Collection has shaped my future! As a senior at Louisiana State University, being one of just three students chosen for the Archives and Special Collections Practicum in Summer 2024 was such an honor.
From hands-on projects to skill-building workshops at the Williams Research Center, I’ve learned so much. One of the most exciting parts was getting to write for First Draft with the amazing Publications team. My article, “Faith and Femininity in the Ursuline Nuns’ Prayer Books,” was published in September 2024 and even shared by the Catholic Cultural Center of New Orleans on their website and social media. Seeing my work out in the world was surreal!
But the biggest surprise came when the article reached the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Thanks to the skills and knowledge I gained at HNOC, I was invited to apply for their Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Religious History program. I was accepted with a full-ride academic scholarship! The admissions committee even mentioned that my research at the Historic New Orleans Collection set me apart from other applicants. I’m beyond excited to continue studying Southern Catholic History this fall.
This program has changed my life. Thanks for helping me follow my dreams!
Christopher, a graduating senior at Xavier University of Louisiana who worked with Ellis to study the Ursuline prayer books held at HNOC, received full-ride scholarship offers to study at Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, and Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School.
Though she has yet to commit to a school, Jasmine is excited for what the future holds—as expressed in a recent testimonial she provided about HNOC’s internship programs:
My time at the Historic New Orleans Collection has enlightened me and my fellow interns about the rich heritage of New Orleans—and ourselves! I want to stress that fact. This is a program that allowed me to see myself in the history that I was engaged in. That actualization has made me a more confident scholar and young professional, prepared to continue in work where I find passion and purpose.
Like Ellis, Christopher had the opportunity to adapt her research into a post for HNOC's First Draft blog. Titled “Reading between the Lines of the Ursulines Nuns’ Prayer Books,” the post was published in late March 2025.
The Collection’s staff and board congratulate Ellis and Christopher on their incredible accomplishments and wish them the best as they build promising new careers in public history!
Learn more about how to support HNOC’s internship programs below. Our end-of-fiscal-year campaign finishes April 1, 2025.
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HNOC internships offer students a unique opportunity to engage with collections, learn professional skills, and develop research practices that will serve them for years to come, while meeting their academic and professional goals. Your gift helps us pay our interns and cover summer housing, transportation, and other program-related expenses. With your help, we can ensure that all eligible students, regardless of economic background, have the opportunity to benefit from HNOC internships.
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Stories by HNOC Interns
Reading Between the Lines of the Ursulines Nuns’ Prayer Books
The Ursulines brought education and health care to New Orleans, but they also helped to build and enforce Louisiana’s nascent racial caste system.
A Blue Velvet Bodice and the Darkness Behind a Dream
A researcher draws connections between a 19th-century bodice and David Lynch’s iconic 1986 film, Blue Velvet.
Faith and Femininity in the Ursuline Nuns’ Prayer Books
In a world where they were expected to be pious above all else, Ursuline nuns in New Orleans’s early years were still negotiating their identities—and you can see it in their prayer books.
Threads of Motherhood
The clever construction of a maternity dress offers an intimate glimpse into 19th-century motherhood.
Preserving the Pretty
HNOC introduces a guide to preserving and displaying Black Masking Indian suits.
Hidden in Plain Sight
An antique wooden mortar and pestle sheds light on the work of enslaved and Indigenous workers.
Searching for Stories of Black Craftspeople in New Orleans
Two young scholars comb the archives to research a cabinetmaker, a boatbuilder, and a cooper.
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