Communicating Local History at the Ol’ Fort

After my internship at Fort Walla Walla Museum, I have found an entire new world of opportunities waiting for me. As a Classics major (think ancient Greece and Rome, not Jane Austen), it can be hard to find careers that are relevant to my studies and allow me to pursue research and archeological inquiry. In a day and age where AI is destroying not only the environment, but also the public’s ability to think critically and engage meaningfully with the past, it can be very difficult to believe that there will even be careers waiting for me when I finish my schooling. This summer, however, I was reminded that there is a group of people out there who care deeply about engaging with and interpreting the past for people of all ages and backgrounds: museums and the many people of varying interests and skills who work there.

Before completing my undergraduate degree, I wanted to have experience in a field tangentially related to my studies. Honestly? I wanted to feel fulfilled in what I did and I wanted to make an impact in a meaningful way. So when I noted that the Whitman Internship Grant would help me with summer internships by funding my internship at the Fort Walla Walla Museum, I jumped on the opportunity.

It’s not a huge museum, operated by a small but dedicated team of staff and a long list of volunteers. Because of this, I’ve had the chance to do more projects than I had expected and found myself coming back for more each time. 

A day in the life of the Communications Intern is honestly quite fun! The museum opens at 10 a.m., so that is when I arrive. I spend my mornings scanning photographs of volunteers and museum maintenance/groundswork from the 90s and 00s—an ongoing battle for digitization that all historical institutions must undergo. I discuss my plans for the week with my boss, the Communications Manager.

I retreat to the museum’s library or conference room to work on my projects. I have had the chance to follow several projects from start to finish this summer, including curating a new exhibit for the Fashion Runway (a display of mannequins sporting historical garb). For this project, the only stipulation I was given was that it should relate to the temporary 250th/semisesquintennial exhibit. I was met with much excitement and encouragement when I proposed basing the Runway theme on a popular line of historical dolls.

I researched and explored the museum’s collection using PastPerfect (a cataloguing software for museums) by poking through the repository. I wrote interpretative labels for each display and for the exhibit as a whole. I helped the Collections Manager to redress the mannequins in their new outfits and photographed the new setup. And I updated the website’s information on the exhibit and wrote the press release. 

I’ve also gotten to research, write about, and photograph various objects in the museum’s collections to create blog posts and social media content. Further, I’ve learned about the “back-end” of websites by updating the museum’s website to include the semisesquintennial exhibit (which I photographed), and helped to create an interactive display for the same exhibit.

This summer has proved to me that there is more waiting for me in the world than I thought. It is so easy to become disheartened as a student of the humanities in today’s world. There is so much negativity and pushback when you decide to dedicate your life to subjects like classics, English, literature, history, and so on. Finding a place of like-minded individuals who not only care about the same things I did, but are passionate about offering me and other emerging students amazing opportunities to learn, grow, and explore has been one of the most gratifying and satisfying experiences I could even imagine.

If I could give any humanities (social sciences, or fine arts) student a piece of advice, it would be this: do not let your dreams be pushed to the side because their benefit is not immediately obvious to the rest of the world. Keep pursuing opportunities to learn, grow, and expand your skills. Push back and demand chances to explore your chosen field, be willing to take risks and think outside the box, and refuse to let your abilities to create and think critically be questioned by those who do not understand them. Apply for that internship! Fill out the volunteer application! Email, call, or talk to whatever people you can to keep pursuing your dreams.

Emmali Simmelink ’27 (she/they) is a Classical Studies (Greek) and Religion double major from Walla Walla, Washington, who interned at Fort Walla Walla Museum in the summer of 2026. Her hobbies include knitting, spinning yarn and exploring textile history in whatever ways she can.