The LHIP intern will collaborate with the park’s Interpretation & Education staff to develop and implement at least two new programs designed to engage youth and families in on-site exploration at Independence National Historical Park. The park will be developing and piloting these engagement activities in conjunction with the rollout of our new Junior Ranger program. Our approach to the activities is one of intentional design reflecting best practices in interpretation and education. The goal is to provide family and youth visitors with a holistic and seamless experience, harnessing the power of place to explore an essential question: Whose life, whose liberty, and whose pursuit of happiness? Through this work, the LHIP intern will explore and have the opportunity to contribute their voice to conversations about freedom and enslavement, identity, and the nation’s origin story.

The park is currently shifting away from a traditional Junior Ranger booklet to an engagement map centered on the “big idea” of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The discrete units of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can be questions (whose liberty?), but they also overlap to create nuance. For example, enslaved people sought liberty AND still had moments of happiness/joy, making humanity central to their stories. This map will require visitors to seek out certain places in the park and ponder questions. Engagement activities directed to this audience at these locations will deepen the connections for visitors of all ages.