The Gabriel Jacobs EPOCH (Eastern [Shore] People of Color) Initiative will be an annual program where two select ODU history majors will work as researchers and data compilers for a primary source database shared by Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, and other public history organizations. This database and website that is being created by Colonial Williamsburg will reconnect the generations of families enslaved by the Custis generations, which includes George Washington and Robert E. Lee, from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Georgetown, D.C. The interns will handle documents for free people, such as census reports, birth records, deeds, tax lists, farm inventories, wills, and bills of sales to find people enslaved as property. Moreover, this internship is designed to:
- Facilitate the study of free black history and life in Virginia’s Tidewater before 1865.
- Provide ODU history students with internship opportunities that will further their education and later careers.
- Place history majors into contact with premier public history institutions and figures.
- Enable ODU to better live up to its recently awarded Research 1 university status by bolstering student research opportunities.
Important Deadlines
- Application Due Date: July 11, 2025
Award Information & Criteria
This initiative involves a full academic year commitment (Fall and Spring semesters), requiring enrollment in two consecutive HIST 368 Internship courses.ÌýStudents must be enrolled for 12+ credits during the semester(s) in which they are to receive the award.
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- All Award monies will be used for the payment of tuition for the two HIST 368 Internship courses first.ÌýThe internship award money will not go toward any administrative fees associated with enrollment in HIST 368.ÌýReimbursement for travel to various historic sites may also be provided if within 91¶ÌÊÓƵ and 91¶ÌÊÓƵ policy guidelines. Reimbursement requests must be cleared in advance by faculty/administrator.
- The Gabriel Jacobs EPOCH Committee will evaluate all applications for overall academic merit, prior performance in the History Department and continuing promise as a History student.
- Applicants must be rising sophomores or higher, and enrolled for 12+ credits during the semester in which they are to receive the award. Applicants must be enrolled as History majors or History with a Major in Secondary History/Social Sciences Education with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, have completed HIST 104H or equivalent, have completed or enrolled in HIST 361 OR 362, and are making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), as defined by the Office of Student Financial Aid. An Advanced Placement (AP) course in history or transfer credit from another college may count towards the HIST 104H requirement.
- ÌýApplicants are required to request at least one, no more than two faculty recommendations.
- Applicants must submit a writing sample of at least 5 pages demonstrating engagement with primary sources. Students should submit only ONE writing sample, (often from HIST 201 if the student has taken the course).
- Awards will cover tuition for two consecutive HIST 368 Internship courses.<li<
- ODU’s Office of Student Financial Aid will administer the Gabriel Jacobs EPOCH Initiative Research Internship.