Hands-on Anthropological Experience through Artifacts - Molly McCardell ’26

LEAD internship with Historic St. Mary's City
“I have been working with the St. Mary’s Fort crew, helping to uncover a building that was used during the fort’s occupation. I’ve been helping with site opening, excavating, troweling units [to check for features], and screening soil for artifacts. In the lab, I clean and categorize artifacts,giving me a better understanding of how artifacts are stored and preserved by the museum.”
Molly McCardell '26

Molly McCardell ’26 (anthropology major) held an internship with Historic St. Mary’s City, doing outdoor field site work as well as indoor lab work. Students studying anthropology at SMCM have a unique an added advantage as the College is located on the site of the fourth oldest permanent English settlement in North America, a location of historical significance for the spread of civil rights and representative government on the continent.

“I have been working with the St. Mary’s Fort crew, helping to uncover a building that was used during the fort’s occupation. I’ve been helping with site opening, excavating, troweling units [to check for features], and screening soil for artifacts. In the lab, I clean and categorize artifacts,giving me a better understanding of how artifacts are stored and preserved by the museum.”

McCardell’s internship with Histori St. Mary’s represents one of the many collaborations between the two institutions as well as the Honors College Promise. St. Mary's College students are guaranteed the opportunity to pursue an internship, research experience or international study. That promise is supported by the College's LEAD Initiative (Learning through Experiential and Applied Discovery).