PROJECT SUMMARY

The Eustis family-owned Oatlands as their country house from 1903 to 1965. William Corcoran Eustis served in World War I as an assistant and interpreter on General Pershing’s staff in Paris. During that time, William wrote frequently to his wife Edith, sending letters to both their home in Washington, D.C., and Oatlands in Loudoun County. Edith saved those letters, and they form the bulk of our World War I Letter Project.

Oatlands employees digitized the letters and began transcribing them about 12 years ago. After a 5-year break, the project resumed under the direction of Audrey DeAngelis, Associate Manager, Public Historian. The goal is to transcribe and annotate the documents and make them publicly accessible starting in September 2025.

The transcription phase is mostly complete, and the next steps are to proof the transcriptions of each letter and envelope; research and write summaries of relevant names, places, and events; and annotate the documents. This phase would comprise most of the internship. If time allows, the intern may be asked to write a brief article for the In Our Backyard column that runs periodically in the local newspaper, Loudoun Now.

National Trust internships are temporary experiential learning opportunities with no expectation of employment at the conclusion of the internship.

For this internship, the National Trust is offering a stipend of $4,000 to help offset expenses. The period of the internship will be from June 2 – July 25, for approximately 28 hours per week.

DUTIES

• Transcribe documents into Word following established formatting and naming procedures.
• Compare transcriptions to copies of original documents to ensure accuracy.
• Research specific people, places, and/or events related to World War One as directed and produce concise summaries of results for staff and public reference.
• Apply collected research data to annotate letter transcriptions for a public audience.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE TO THE INTERN
The intern will gain experience under the mentorship of respected preservation and museum professionals, in an educational setting at one of the nation’s leading historic house museums. The intern will also have the opportunity to participate in educational programming offered via the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s organization-wide internship program. Students may also be eligible for college or graduate school academic credit at the discretion of their institution.

Specifically, the intern will gain knowledge in the following areas:
· Oatlands history.
· World War I history.
· 20th century American history.
· Transitioning archival documents to publicly accessible material.
· Historical and genealogical research.
· Writing for a public audience.

At the end of the project, the intern will have produced a collection of between 20 and 30 short (less than a page) descriptions of people, places, and events relevant to World War One, and annotations for a section of William Eustis’ letters written from France in 1917-1918.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Proficiency at reading cursive handwriting from the early 20th century.
• Basic analytical and problem-solving skills, including issue identification and prioritization. Basic project-organization skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to collaborate and achieve results with supervision, including ability to interact professionally with key internal and external stakeholders as needed.
• Strong organizational skills required, with ability to prioritize, multi-task efficiently, and meet deadlines in a timely fashion
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products required, including Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Bachelor’s level studies (or equivalent years of experience) required; current or rising juniors, seniors or graduate students preferred. Studies or demonstrated interest in World War One history or archival research preferred.

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