Thank you for your interest in Preservation Chicago and Chicago’s incredible built environment!  We love to work with individuals to help advance the mission who are as passionate and dedicated to Chicago as we are!  Love Your City Fiercely!

Preservation Chicago is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization that leverages the power of historic preservation to create healthy, vibrant, diverse and sustainable communities. 

Current Preservation Chicago Internship Opportunities: Fall 2024

Research Intern

Preservation Chicago, a 501c3 non-profit, seeks a seasonal intern for Fall 2024 in the area of preservation research. Expected commitment is approximately 20 hours per week, over a 12-week engagement. Anticipated start date is October 1, 2024. It features hybrid in-office and remote working arrangements. This is a paid internship. Compensation is $1,600 per month.

Interested candidates are invited to submit a resume, cover letter, and three professional references to info@preservationchicago.org with “Fall 2024 Research Intern” in the subject line. Relevant work samples are also welcome. No phone calls will be accepted. Review of applications will begin immediately. Anticipated start date is October 1, 2024.

Position Summary: Research Intern

Preservation Chicago plays an important role as a leading resource for historic building research and writing. This historic building research helps to inform advocacy efforts and the landmark designation processes. Additionally, this information provides an essential baseline for stakeholders to engage in a robust conversation about the significance of these historic buildings.

Historic research is at the core of the process which considers the eligibility of buildings to become Designated Chicago Landmarks. Rapid response research helps to inform historic content in hundreds of news articles each year. Deeper dive research plays an important role in adding additional layers of historic content to the process by which buildings are evaluated for Chicago Landmark Designation eligibility.

We seek a fall 2024 Research Intern to help advance our mission by conducting historic buildings research briefs and writing research reports.

We seek a passionate and dedicated team member who is creative, collaborative, efficient, productive, and flexible, and who has a passion for Chicago’s heritage and built environment. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a professional demeanor, will be skilled at historic research, an excellent writer, and detail oriented; will have strong executive function; and will thrive in a dynamic workplace environment.

Primary Responsibilities: Architectural Resource Identification, Evaluation, and Documentation

• Provide support to Executive Director’s advocacy efforts by conducting research and writing reports on historic buildings threated with demolition.
• Conduct research regarding endangered historic buildings in Chicago using primary and secondary sources, including online and in-person archival research at libraries, archives, historical societies, SHPOs, and county and municipal offices. Sources of information may include public records, deeds, wills, tax records, building permits, newspapers, GIS sites, census records, and genealogical records.
• Generate research that informs the evaluation process regarding the eligibility of buildings to become Designated Chicago Landmarks.
• Communicate in writing historic findings with stakeholders, including property owners, community members, reporters, elected officials, historic preservation staff, and others.
• Upload research and reports into a shared internal organizational file

Primary Deliverables

1. Rapid Response Research Briefs: Quickly research and write research briefs to document and communicate historic findings, including architect, year built, significant residents, and important events.

2. Deep Dive Research Reports: Generate more detailed research reports which explore in greater depth a buildings historic and architectural significance, including significant residents

3. Chicago Landmark Suggestion Forms: Research and complete City of Chicago Landmark Suggestion forms.

Additional Opportunities

• Potential to conduct site visits to historic buildings, historic districts, and other sites.
• Potential to document historic buildings using digital photography.
• Potential to help develop online research strategies guide to encourage research

Equity Statement: Preservation Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and we highly value diversity in our workplace. Preservation Chicago provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, political affiliation, marital status, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. All aspects of employment including the decision to hire, promote, discipline, or discharge, will be based on merit.

Apply today!

Interested candidates are invited to submit a resume, cover letter, and three professional references to info@preservationchicago.org with “Fall 2024 Research Intern” in the subject line. Relevant work samples are also welcome. No phone calls will be accepted. Review of applications will begin immediately. Anticipated start date is October 1, 2024.

Previous Internship Opportunities: Summer 2024 

Preservation Policy Intern 

(ideally suited to Public Policy, Historic Preservation, and/or Urban Planning graduate students)

Preservation Chicago is interested in exploring three areas of inquiry this summer, as detailed below. We will work with an intern to help them select the topic that best aligns with their current academic interests and strengths. We also invite and will consider research proposals with immediate relevance to our mission beyond the three areas of focus below. Final deliverables should include a complete document appropriate for website and print distribution.

• Assessing Historic Preservation & Housing Affordability;
  A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the nexus between historic preservation activities and housing affordability, as it relates to the City of Chicago. Potential areas of focus include:
  • • Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH); 
    • Multifamily Adaptive Reuse; 
    • Successful pairings of Historic Rehabilitation, Low Income Housing, and/or New Market Tax Credits; 
    • Opportunities for housing density and housing diversity within historic neighborhoods and formal historic districts (i.e. zoning reform, reduced parking minimums, allowance of accessory dwelling units, etc.); 
    • Assessment of financial obligation for managers and owner-occupants of City of Chicago Landmarks and/or owner-occupants within City of Chicago Landmark Districts. 

While housing policy is of primary current interest, Preservation Chicago is likewise interested in similar studies that would explore the relationship between

• • • Historic preservation and Sustainability; 
    • Historic preservation and Racial Justice and Cultural Diversity; 
    • Historic preservation and Economic Development; 
    • Historic preservation and the Arts & Cultural Economy; and 
    • Historic preservation and Heritage Tourism.

• Assessing Chicago’s Demolition-Delay Ordinance: A Comparative Study of Other US Cities; 

Chicago’s Demolition-Delay Ordinance was adopted in 2003 but this policy is largely ineffective at preventing the demolition of architecturally significant properties.  The Demolition-Delay Ordinance relies on the Chicago Historic Resource Survey (completed almost 30 years ago in 1995), but the CHRS is out of date and was never intended to be used for this purpose. This study will explore the effectiveness of the current policy, what it does well and what it could arguably do better. A summary of findings should consider demolition delay/review guidance in other North American cities; provide concrete, actionable recommendations to strengthen Chicago’s ordinance; and/or consider implementation of new policies intended to better regulate and discourage demolition. 

• Assessing Appropriate Funding Levels for the City of Chicago Historic Preservation Division: A Comparative Study of Other US Cities;

Despite a deserved reputation for architectural appreciation, and longstanding position as one of the United States’ top three largest cities (by population), Chicago struggles to adequately fund its Historic Preservation Division, the municipal office tasked with overseeing historic properties and the formal designation of City of Chicago Landmarks. Past efforts to bolster the HPD’s operating budget were often met with inquiries of how comparative cities fund their own historic divisions. These numbers can prove difficult to track down, partly because many of these offices are nestled within larger departments of Development, Planning, or the Environment, etc. This quantitative study will more definitively measure comparable budget allocations across the US, and hopefully model how Chicago can better support its own office here at home. At minimum, studies should consider the number of FTEs and how their time is allocated (i.e. project review, Landmark creation, public outreach); related project and/or program budget allocations; relationship to larger and/or sister departments; and measures of office work product (i.e. formal designations of historic properties and/or districts; number of permits reviewed annually; technical service and/or grants administered, etc.)

Archival Science Intern 

(ideally suited to Library and Information Science Students)

Preservation Chicago has a growing collection of books, magazines, monographs, papers, drawings, photographs and other associated materials of relevance to our mission and Chicago’s architectural legacy. We seek an intern to begin proper cataloging of these items, and lay the foundation for eventual implementation of a publicly accessible, fully searchable database. We will work with a potential intern to pair them with the collection(s) that best aligns with their current academic interests and strengths. More on specific materials below:

• Cataloging the Mary Ellen DiMatteo Library; Sort, catalog and shelve new and existing library books within Preservation Chicago’s office library; Prepare digital finding aid; Consider creation of an online, searchable database
• Cataloging the Preservation Chicago Photo Collection; Sort, identify, and scan existing collection of books, magazines, historic photos and postcards within Preservation Chicago’s office; Prepare digital finding aid; Consider creation of an online, searchable database
• Cataloging the P.G. Collection Sort, catalog and shelve materials related to the P.G. Collection, recently donated to Preservation Chicago; Prepare digital finding aid; Consider creation of an online, searchable database
• Cataloging Organizational Files/Legacy Materials; Sort, catalog, and file legacy materials currently in Preservation Chicago office; Prepare digital finding aid; Consider scanning and/or donation to appropriate Chicago archives.