What two PEM internships taught me about paperwork, preservation and why every detail matters

If you’ve visited the new installation of PEM's East India Marine Hall, you may have seen the life-size sculpture of Rajinder Dutt sitting amongst a cabinet of art and objects from around the world. Mr. Dutt was a prominent 19th-century Indian businessman who traded with members of the Salem East India Marine Society. In the 1840s, he had his likeness conjured from clay to be displayed at the museum, illustrating to Salem residents one of the global relationships that helped build the city’s wealth. As a visitor today, you might pause before him, admire his quiet dignity, and move on. But as an intern who first met Mr. Dutt in the conservation lab last summer, and saw him transform from an assemblage of appendages into the dignified figure sitting in East India Marine Hall, I cannot help but smile each time I see him, almost as if we share a secret. 

Last summer, Collections and Registration introduced me to the intellectual infrastructure behind the PEM collection. A careful trail of paperwork documents every object a museum acquires; PEM has acquisition records that date back to 1799. Now, they are also supported by metadata recorded in a digital collections management system. I got to work on both of these parts of the documentation process, along with condition reports — a key benchmark for documenting an object’s physical state at the time of accession, so it can be compared to previous and future condition records from the same or other institutions. 

Some of the most meaningful work I did happened at the level of a single subject heading. These headings distill what each collection resource is about into a quick and accurate guide to its contents: names, places, time periods and topical categories. I was fortunate to learn this process for manuscript collections and art books entering the library using the Indigenous Peoples Subject Headings Crosswalk for related materials. This continuously growing resource, built collaboratively by PEM’s Native American Fellows and the Phillips Library’s technical staff, correlates outdated and harmful terminology used by many older materials with language that reflects how communities describe themselves. Here, an accurate, respectful description is not just a technicality, but a valuable way we can demonstrate how PEM is genuinely committed to the communities whose materials we care for. The value of both the Crosswalk itself and the human-centered principle on which it is built will stay in my mind at every institution I work for in the future.

One of the things I most want future interns to know is that some of the richest learning at PEM happens not at your desk, but alongside your peers.

Gallery tours with my fellow interns were among the highlights of my entire experience. We were fortunate to experience the pinnacle of private tours: passionate and intelligent curators leading us through the exhibitions they had spent years developing. George Schwartz led our group through East India Marine Hall, and the experience of moving through that historic space with someone who could illuminate the exponentially layered history embedded in every object (especially after reading his fantastic book, Collecting the Globe) transformed how I understood the foundations of PEM. Jeffrey Richmond-Moll led us through Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone, the exhibition I had a small, personal connection to from my condition report the summer before. Hearing Jeff speak about Lewis’ life, her decades of underrecognition and the collaborative scholarship that brought the exhibition to life made the background work of archives and collections registration feel like a direct and vital contribution to how stories like Lewis’ get told (or don’t). Finally, Chief Curator Petra Slinkard made time to walk my cohort of interns through the dazzling presentation of Andrew Gn: Fashioning the World, a 30-year retrospective of a designer who now has a lasting relationship with the museum. Being able to engage thoughtfully with these exceptionally impressive museum professionals was an invaluable experience that crystallized those three exhibitions in my mind as a blueprint for work I will continue to pursue in my own career. These tours were reminders that PEM is not just a place to gain technical skills: It is a place to think carefully about what collections are for, who they serve, and who has historically been left out.

One final piece of advice for the interns who follow me: pay attention to the little things, and keep your mind open for learning in ways you do not expect. The condition report you work on might become the centerpiece of a major exhibition, so your question that might seem silly actually makes a huge difference. The conversation with coworkers might seem trivial, but it will provide you with incredibly helpful career path options you never even knew were possible.

PEM gave me technical fluency that I will use for the rest of my career, but more than that, it gave me a conviction, grounded in experience, about why museum work matters: what gets described, preserved and made findable, frames what future visitors are able to learn and interact with. Especially in our current moment in history, our collective role in amplifying marginalized voices is more important than ever.

To the staff at the Phillips Library, the Registration Department, Learning and Community Engagement, and everyone else I came in contact with during this incredible internship experience: thank you for letting me be part of it. You have graced me with skills, knowledge and passion I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Interested in gaining hands-on experience at PEM? Applications for our Fall 2026 internship program are open! Join a dynamic museum community and explore opportunities across a wide range of departments, including Collections Management, Manuscripts Processing, Digital Projects, the Art & Nature Center and more. Whether you're passionate about art, culture, nature or museum operations, there's an opportunity to learn, contribute and grow at PEM.

Applications will be open from mid-June through July 19.