Salem Maritime National Historic Site seeks an intern to research the Point Neighborhood Historic District and the city of Salem’s historic and contemporary Caribbean connections, and develop a proposal for a new exhibit at the Salem Armory Visitor Center. The goal of the proposed exhibit will be to engage members of the park’s neighboring Latinx community, El Punto (the Point). The Latino Heritage Intern will be responsible for collaborating with members of Salem’s Latinx community, through formal and informal contacts, to learn about the target audience and identify specific areas of interest. This will help Salem Maritime reach an end goal (a 2013 visitor study indicated 6% of visitors to Salem Maritime were Latinx) in creating a more inclusive atmosphere in the park for all of our neighbors.

A 2020 Latino Heritage intern at Salem Maritime developed a “Latinx Commitment and Engagement Plan” after working with members of the local Latinx community to identify specific recommendations for overall improvement of inclusion at the Park. The plan identifies exhibits on Latinx history as a method to engage local Latinx community members with the Park’s resources and interpretive themes.

The intern will develop an exhibit plan based off community collaboration, local interest, and interpretive themes identified in Salem Maritime’s “Visitor Experience Plan” (2020), specifically, New England’s place in a global society. The main deliverable for the intern will be to present an exhibit plan to the Park’s Exhibit Team and community contacts from El Punto. The plan will identify main messages, themes and essential questions, interpretive strategies, and materials for the proposed exhibit. The intern will facilitate a participatory.