Harry N. Baetjer III Junior Fellows Program
About the Program
The Delaware Historical Society offers high-schoolers a paid summer intern experience through the Harry N. Baetjer III Junior Fellows Program. The program is open to students entering the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades through a competitive application process. Fellows are assigned to departments at either the Historical Society’s downtown Wilmington campus or the Read House & Gardens, its National Historic Landmark campus in Old New Castle. They come together throughout the summer for seminar discussions around current issues in the field of public history, giving rising stars
Baetjer Fellows come from many backgrounds and go on to pursue careers in a wide range of fields, from the humanities to STEM fields to the arts. The program experience includes a combination of hands-on projects, discussion of readings, and the mentorship of senior staff members. Their projects include important work with artifacts, site and gallery interpretation, and historical research and culminate in a public presentation at the conclusion of the program. Alums of the program regularly go on to top-ranking colleges, often receiving letters of recommendation from their DHS mentors.
The 2018–2021 sessions of the Baetjer Program have been made possible by the generosity of Michelle and David Shepherd and other kind donors.
2021 Program Staff:
Brenton Grom, Program Director
Director of the George Read II House & Gardens (DHS)
Camille N’Diaye, Administrative and Recruitment Coordinator
University of Chicago Law School
Rebecca Fay, Project Mentor
Director of Education (DHS)
Thomas Kinservik, Peer Mentor
Yale University
Martha Moffat, Project Mentor
Director of Buildings and Grounds
Leigh Rifenburg, Project Mentor
Chief Curator (DHS)
Past Fellows
2021
Ashley Bao (Cab Calloway ’22)
Mia Carini (Odyssey Charter ’24)
Madison Cephas (St. George’s Vocational Tech ’23)
Mili Kher (Newark Charter ’22)
Maya Levine (Cab Calloway ’22)
Olivia Perry (The Park School, Baltimore, ’24)
Alex Tóth (Newark Charter ’23)
2020
Molly Shapiro (Padua Academy ’21)
Oluwaseun Ogundimu (MOT Charter School ’22)
Sanjay Long (Archmere Academy ’21)
El Bishop (Cab Calloway School of the Arts ’21)
Ben Greenberg (The Hill School ’22)
Maura Smeader (Archmere Academy ’21)
2019
Jordan Arrington (Newark Charter School ’21)
Amy Hall (Tatnall School ’20)
Thomas Kinservik (Newark Charter School ’20)
Rachel Knearl-Wearne (Mt Pleasant HS ’22)
Risha Kumar (Cab Calloway School of the Arts ’21)
Jesse Roy (Newark Charter School ’20)
2018
Evan Ciecko (Mt Pleasant HS ’20)
Marshall Cole (Homeschooled ’20)
Hollis du Pont (Episcopal Academy ’21)
Whitney Grinnage-Cassidy (Ursuline Academy ’20)
Jane Lyons (Ursuline Academy ’19)
2017
Benjamin Connor (Mount Pleasant HS ’19)
