About the Internship Program
The George Washington Entrepreneur Internship is highly selective and the longest-running internship program at Mount Vernon. Those chosen work 40 hours a week for two and a half months as frontline, costumed interpreters. College students from across the country learn a variety of hands-on demonstrations as they interpret the Farm, Spinning House, and Distillery and Gristmill.
In addition, the interns use Mount Vernon resources to conduct original research on topics related to George Washington and his historic estate.
Erwan de Benoist
A descendant of a French officer who fought in the Revolutionary War, Erwan de Benoist had the immense honor of being sent by the Society of the Cincinnati of France to join the prestigious Mount Vernon Internship Program. Student at Paris Dauphine University (PSL), he is studying economics and mathematics.
Project Description: France's involvement in the Revolutionary War before signing the treaty.
In its fight for liberty, America was not alone. France was the Continental Congress's principal ally. However, given its geopolitical situation with Great Britain, France had to operate behind the scenes during the early years of the war.This project outlines the main aid efforts undertaken by the Kingdom of France to assist the insurgents.
By recalling France's decisive role in this war, we will examine the various means used to transport military equipment to America and how naval support was established to assist American privateers and ensure trade, while avoiding British spies.
We will also observe several prominent officers, such as Lafayette, who volunteered their services on the battlefield even before France officially joined the conflict.
Adah Coluzzi
Adah Coluzzi is a rising junior at Wesleyan University majoring in History and Government. Over the last several years, she has served as a researcher for Historic Blenheim in Fairfax, VA. At Wesleyan, she is the liaison between the university and the local Middlesex County Historical Society as well as Editor-in-Chief of the school’s history journal, Historical Narratives. She also works at Wesleyan’s Archeology and Anthropology Collections, and has been conducting provenance research on Zuni and Hopi pottery in the school’s collections to conclude whether the objects were acquired through grave robbings.
Project Description: Indigenous Influences at Mount Vernon
Just as it is impossible to separate George Washington’s legacy as a farmer from the enslaved people who labored in his fields, the influence of east coast Indigenous Peoples continue to be reflected at Mount Vernon’s Farm site today. The goal of this presentation is to
educate Mount Vernon staff on how colonists were able to legitimize their control over Indigenous land. It will begin by discussing the history of local Indigenous groups and how their displacement allowed for their land to be granted to colonists.
The profit colonists made off of these land through their cultivation of Indigenous crops increased European migration to the colonies, furthering colonial encroachment on Indigenous lands. This presentation will begin with a broad overview of the history and cultures of the Piscataway, Doeg, and Patawomeck tribes that lived in the area surrounding the estate. This topic will take audiences to the present, as the Patawomeck tribe, the Piscataway Indian Nation and the Piscataway Conoy tribe remain active and continue to preserve their cultural heritage.
Jumping back in time, the next section will be about the acquisition of the land that would become Mount Vernon by George’s great-grandfather, John Washington. John Washington’s land grants highlight how conceptions of land ownership differed between Indigenous Peoples and British colonists. The final section of this presentation will be focused on how early colonists adapted to the North American environment through their use of Indigenous crops. Corn and tobacco will be centered in this part of the discussion to illustrate how ingrained Indigenous culture was in colonial life, even in the home of the first president.
These crops were chosen for their presence at the Farm site, offering interpreters an easier way to integrate information about Indigenous cultures into their conversations with visitors. Indigenous tribes have not vanished, and neither has their history. By centering Indigenous Peoples, this presentation will offer audiences a new lens to view George Washington’s agricultural industry as well as how the Mount Vernon estate came to be
Sam Laikin
Sam Laikin is a history and social studies education major going into his junior year at Miami University. He is also a part of the George Washington Entrepreneur Internship program with the Historic Trades Department here at Mount Vernon. In the future, he plans to teach high school history, bringing engaging storytelling to the classroom and helping the next generation learn the importance of history. His research interests include early American chess history, Latin America, and of course, George Washington.
Project Description: Washington, Weather, and the Wheat Crop
George Washington loved to complain about the weather. In fact, he wrote detailed notes about the weather conditions at Mount Vernon almost every day. But to what extent did he use those observations to adapt his farming practices? This project looks to understand Washington’s weather records in a new way. It will analyze not only Washington’s evolving responses to drought, heavy rains, and frosts but also evaluate whether his efforts to adapt on the farm were effective and worthwhile.
While this research focuses primarily on Washington’s wheat crop, it does also look at how Washington manages his other crops, creating a broader understanding of Washington as a farmer. This research pulls from sources like Washington’s notes and letters to see how Washington is thinking about some of the problems he is facing and how ultimately responds. Furthermore, this project breaks down the weather data charted from his records to quantitate Washington's observations. Comparisons are also made with the meteorological practices of Washington’s contemporaries, particularly Thomas Jefferson. This research is in conversation with scholarly sources like Washington at the Plow as well as modern works that discuss current wheat farming practices.
Ultimately this research draws broader conclusions about 18th century meteorology, Washington’s development as a farmer, and how the two intersect.
Lydia Ruffin
Lydia Ruffin is a military child who was born in the nation’s first capital of Philadelphia, which she believed is the basis for her love of history, She is currently is a sophomore at Washington and Lee University where she is double majoring in History and Russian Studies. Following school she wants to continue work in the museum and public history field.
Project Descriptions: America through the Wardrobe of George Washington
This project will examine the clothing choices of George Washington and how he used that to communicate ideas about America, power, wealth and society. This project will use a biographical format, following Washington from young adulthood through his experience as a gentleman farmer and his service as commander and chief and president.
This project will not solely focus on Washington but also those who he thought of as extensions of his personal image. Encompassing his enslaved individuals and soldiers serving under him in both the Virginia militia and the Continental Army.
The goal of this project is to explore the intricacies and contractions of America through the wardrobe of the man who built her.
Tatum Wood
My name is Tatum Wood. I am an intern in Mount Vernon’s Historic Trades department through the George Washington Entrepreneur Internship. I am a junior at the University of Mary Washington, majoring in History with minors in Museum Studies and French.
Project Description: Exploring Colonial Textiles Through Hands-On Learning
My intern research project is to create a program for Mount Vernon that could be implemented as an interactive textiles program geared towards a K-5 audience. Many students are more engaged in learning when they get to touch or try something for themselves. My interpretation outline will cover some of the textile production being done at Mount Vernon in the eighteenth century, and it will provide students with instructions and a chance to try some of the different textile crafts demonstrated by staff, such as spinning, weaving, and knitting.
This includes a rudimentary explanation of how we get textiles from their raw forms, how they were processed from fibers to fabrics, and how the lives of the enslaved and the Washington’s were intertwined through textile production. The program will allow guests to engage more with the demonstration of the different crafts that were used at Mount Vernon and will provide information on the people doing these trades on a level that can be understood and by a younger age group