History student interns at Lincoln museum
Gonzales resident Courtney Dupre is spending her summer with one of the most-recognized Americans on the planet.
Dupre, 25, a graduate student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is an intern this summer with the Exhibits and Collections Departments at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill.
Since arriving a month ago, Dupre has gotten up close and personal with some of the most iconic artifacts in American history, including an original copy of the Gettysburg Address and numerous original Civil War artifacts.
“Within my first week alone, I assisted in removing the 13th Amendment from its display case and helped to install the Gettysburg Address in its place,” she said. “I knew this internship would be unique, but I never imagined that I would work with two of the most significant documents in American history on my fourth day.”
Dupre has been involved in a wide array of museum work. Her tasks have included preparing display cases for an upcoming Mary Lincoln exhibit and assisting with a display for a Springfield poet and artist, Vachel Lindsay. In addition, she has taken museum inventory and has learned the basic techniques of paper conservation.
“My focus in school is the Civil War, so to actually work firsthand with artifacts and documents from Abraham Lincoln and his family has been a spectacular experience,” she said.
Dupre said she is pursuing a career in museum work, either in collections or in exhibits.
“This internship has allowed me to work in four different departments within the museum: registration, exhibits, collections and conservation,” she said. “After graduation, my job search does not have to be limited because I will have experience in multiple areas.”
Dupre is a graduate of Episcopal High School and LSU. She is pursuing a master’s degree in history with a concentration in public history at ULL. She is a member of Phi Alpha Theta and the National History Honors Society. Her parents are Chris and Annette Dupre, of Gonzales.
For more information about the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, visit http://www.presidentlincoln.org.