Architectural Intern / Historic Preservation Technician (PLC) – ONSITE – H

Start/End Dates: May 26, 2025 – August 9, 2025 (11 weeks)
Compensation: $688 per week
Medical Insurance: Not provided
Application Due: February 7, 2025

The Latino Heritage Internship Program seeks to engage ethnically and racially diverse young professionals in natural resource careers.

Eligibility Requirement:

• Must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
• No personal vehicle is required for this position.

Position Description:

The selected intern will work with a team of permanent staff architects to produce HABS (Historic American Buildings Survey) measured drawing documentation of the La Sociedad Protección Mutual de Trabajadores Unidos (S.P.M.D.T.U.) Concilio Superior building in Antonito, Colorado, as well as another smaller local lodge, a Concilio Locale, in Chama, Colorado. The intern will also produce a short HABS historical report on the Concilio Superior building, with assistance from a HABS historian.

Travel for the intern(s) from Washington, DC to Colorado, as well as per diem for five days to undertake the fieldwork, will be covered by the Historic American Buildings Survey. An account number will be provided to cover these costs.

ABOUT THE S.P.M.D.T.U.

The S.P.M.D.T.U. is a mutual-aid society established in 1900 to protect Hispano workers in the San Luis Valley from racial discrimination. Hispano workers in agriculture, railroads, and mining also faced segregation, and were excluded from white schools, hospitals, and restaurants. In response, Hispano communities across the Southwest formed mutual-aid societies to combat discrimination, advocate for social and economic rights, celebrate their culture, and provide basic social insurance programs, such as unemployment and burial aid.

Membership in the S.P.M.D.T.U. spread quickly across the San Luis Valley, fueled by ongoing discrimination and violence against Hispano workers. Initially, membership was restricted to men, who were required to attend meetings, pay dues, and be good citizens. Later, women were allowed to join and established their own auxiliary lodge buildings, a few of which remain. At its peak, there were sixty-five S.P.M.D.T.U. local chapter lodge buildings (Concilios Locales) supporting Hispano communities in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

The selected intern will work with a team of permanent staff architects to produce HABS (Historic American Buildings Survey) measured drawing documentation of the La Sociedad Protección Mutual de Trabajadores Unidos (S.P.M.D.T.U.) Concilio Superior building in Antonito, Colorado, as well as another smaller local lodge, a Concilio Locale, in Chama, Colorado. The intern will also produce a short HABS historical report on the Concilio Superior building, with assistance from a HABS historian.

Travel for the intern(s) from Washington, DC to Colorado, as well as per diem for five days to undertake the fieldwork, will be covered by the Historic American Buildings Survey. An account number will be provided to cover these costs.

ABOUT THE S.P.M.D.T.U.

The S.P.M.D.T.U. is a mutual-aid society established in 1900 to protect Hispano workers in the San Luis Valley from racial discrimination. Hispano workers in agriculture, railroads, and mining also faced segregation, and were excluded from white schools, hospitals, and restaurants. In response, Hispano communities across the Southwest formed mutual-aid societies to combat discrimination, advocate for social and economic rights, celebrate their culture, and provide basic social insurance programs, such as unemployment and burial aid.

Membership in the S.P.M.D.T.U. spread quickly across the San Luis Valley, fueled by ongoing discrimination and violence against Hispano workers. Initially, membership was restricted to men, who were required to attend meetings, pay dues, and be good citizens. Later, women were allowed to join and established their own auxiliary lodge buildings, a few of which remain. At its peak, there were sixty-five S.P.M.D.T.U. local chapter lodge buildings (Concilios Locales) supporting Hispano communities in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

ABOUT THE CONCILIO SUPERIOR BUILDING

In 1920, the Concilio Superior decided to build a permanent headquarters and meeting hall in Antonito, Colorado. Construction began in 1923 and was completed in 1925. Located on Main Street, the building was constructed with adobe walls and a stucco finish. The interior included a large open hall, a raised stage, and bleachers. The building’s use of steel trusses and commercial windows in a southwestern vernacular design helped introduce new architectural features to Hispano communities in the San Luis Valley.

Today, the building continues to serve its members and was recently restored with the help of several preservation grants. The Concilio Superior is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and is currently being considered for National Historic Landmark (NHL) status.

Learn more about the Concilio Superior building with this virtual tour:
Virtual Tour of the Concilio Superior

ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP

The internship will provide the student with marketable skills that will advance their career in architecture, historic preservation, and technology. The position requires hand sketching and measuring in the field for the production of detailed, as-built measured drawings of one or more historic buildings in AutoCAD. The architect intern will learn various measuring methods, including hand measuring, photogrammetry, and terrestrial laser scanning, and will be introduced to several new software programs.

The intern will produce standard two-dimensional architectural drawings (site plans, floor plans, building elevations, sections, details, etc.), with some work in three-dimensional modeling. Under the supervision of a HABS historian, the intern will also write a short historical report that meets HABS standards. The documentation produced will be submitted to the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Library of Congress, where it will be archived and made available to a global audience online.

The position is supervised by a permanent staff member of the Heritage Documentation Programs (HABS/HAER/HALS).

Responsibilities:

• Applicants should have completed at least three years in an accredited program in architecture or engineering or be pursuing a degree or certificate in Historic Preservation. Coursework in an accredited architecture program and/or technical/computer-aided drafting is strongly recommended (e.g., Architecture, Architectural History, Computer-Aided Design and Drafting, Historic Preservation, Surveying, etc.).
• Applicants should possess the following skills: clear and legible hand lettering, the ability to produce freehand sketches, knowledge of precision computer-aided drafting, and the ability to learn and use new software and hardware.
• Experience in the production of field measurements and measured drawings is recommended but not required.
• Proficiency with the use of AutoCAD and/or other Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) software is strongly recommended.
• Work samples may be requested prior to placement (e.g., freehand pencil or ink sketches, architectural lettering, field notes with annotations and measurements, traditional architectural drawings produced in a recent version of AutoCAD, etc.).

Qualifications:

• Proficiency in the use of computers and AutoCAD
• Ability to work outdoors to conduct fieldwork
• Basic knowledge of building construction and surveying methods, with the ability to create legible hand sketches for the creation of field notes
• Ability to work in a team environment
• Detail-oriented
• Ability to easily adapt to learning and using new software and hardware
• Strong desire to learn

Interns in this program will receive 480 hours towards Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority. See below for information about PLC.

Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority (PLC)
The Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority is a special hiring authority available to qualifying interns. The intern must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, inclusive, or a veteran up to age 35 and complete 640 hours of work on an appropriate conservation project to be eligible for this hiring authority. Upon successful completion of the PLC project(s), the intern is eligible for two years to be hired non-competitively into a federal seasonal, term, or permanent position. The applicant must apply to a PLC-eligible position advertised on USAJobs.gov and selected off a non-competitive certificate of eligibility. For more information, see DOI Personnel Bulletins 11-02 , 12-13, and 17-03.

EEO Statement

Environment for the Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.