A Future in the Past

If you Google “Scouting During World War II,” two out of the top four search results are articles I wrote during a museum internship over the past few months. This past summer I had the great opportunity to partner with two museums in New Hampshire to research, collect, display, and present the history of the Scouting movement in the United States during the Second World War. My internship partnered with Lawrence L. Lee Scouting Museum and the Max I. Silber Library from Manchester, New Hampshire, and the Wright Museum of World War II in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. In a joint museum endeavor, my internship highlighted an overlooked aspect of the youthful contributions to the American homefront. Furthermore, the internship provided great guidance and inspiration to me on career pathways after I graduate from Norwich University.

When considering my college education, majoring in history was the natural choice, and in my senior year of high school, I believed the best avenue to pursue that goal and seek a commission in the U.S. Army was Norwich. Since then, I have stayed the course with history, but chose not to seek a commission in the military, a decision clouded at first with doubts. In the spring of 2026, I saw seniors proudly pinning on their gold bars and families congratulating them on their achievement. I felt some regret considering my choice to leave the ROTC, and spent this past summer internship considering that decision.

The internship was organized first by discussions with the Center for Career Readiness, who sparked conversation around summer plans, possibly pursuing an internship for a nearby museum. The Wright Museum does not advertise internships, but after reaching out their program was offered to me. They allow high school and college students to intern, and are very flexible in the scope of the internship depending on the direction and drive of the student. At the Wright Museum, they considered my experience as an Eagle Scout, President of Norwich Scouting Association, and volunteer of the L.L. Lee Scouting Museum that a project surrounding Scouting would be a good fit. Once that plan was made with the Wright Museum, I connected with Professor Rowland Brucken, chair of the Department of History and Political Science, who helped draft an internship syllabus so I could earn academic credit for my work. The elective course offered three credits for the summer and brought the mentorship of Dr. Brucken as my advisor.

During my first few weeks at the Wright Museum, I became involved in public history far more in-depth than any other experience volunteering for smaller museums had taught me. Everything from online exhibits, accessioning, preservation, as well as museum events and programming. I became involved in fundraising, community involvement, and lecture series. Over the course of this work, everything I was doing, as well as research, built up to creating new permanent display for the showroom, and presenting a 45-minute lecture on the Scouting movement during World War II.

By the end of the summer, my exhibit on Scouting was complete, and the research was made into a lecture talk and a permanent exhibit. Following the lecture, I received feedback from retired educators in the audience who told me with confidence I should pursue a career in education or teaching. Ultimately that answered my question about the concerns of the summer, if I had made the right choice leaving the ROTC. I know I have; I want to commit myself more as a proud Norwich student and cadet with my academics, especially seeing how exciting and rewarding it is to present new research and collections of history. Now the research I began at the museums will be carried over, written, and hopefully published through a university honors thesis on Scouting during World War II.

Overall, a summer well spent, and great connections made thanks to Norwich. Following the talk, the Wright Museum has asked for me to return next summer as a scheduled lecture speaker, not just a special presenter. Additionally, the Manchester Historical Association has scheduled me to present the lecture at the Manchester Millyard Museum, which I will be giving on November 21st! The University Honors Program is also shaping up to support future research in more museums, archives, and libraries of Scouting in the United States and Great Britain this coming summer. The thesis will result in a publishable work on the history of Scouting during World War II, which can be presented at the New England Historical Association Conference. Thanks to a small yet incredibly supportive school like Norwich University, my passion turned into research and helped ground my future.