2024-25 Betty Bartlett Public History Experiential Learning Internship for Local History
The Betty Bartlett Public History Experiential Learning Internship for Local History is offered annually to undergraduate students enrolled on main campus who participate in an experiential learning opportunity with a heritage organization focusing on local history. It is funded by a generous endowment by Dr. Michael Bartlett, a graduate from Western’s MA Public History field, who established the fund in memory of his mother, Betty Bartlett. A schoolteacher in Ontario for over twenty-five years, Betty Bartlett developed her own course that centred on local history, which was at the time the only full-semester local history course offered in the Carleton Board of Education. It is hoped that those supported by the Betty Bartlett Fund will be inspired to share her passion for local history and engagement.
This year’s recipient is Maggie King, who during the summer of 2024 conducted a local heritage project as a Student Researcher for the Point Abino Association. Tasked with researching the history of Point Abino from the 1600s to the early 1900s, Maggie delved into archival documents, oral histories, and several other kinds of primary sources. She produced a paper from this research on the history of Point Abino that was distributed to members and municipal leaders to mark the centennial anniversary of the Association.
Maggie’s experience with the Point Abino Association sparked her interest in heritage work and public history and led to her summer 2025 employment as the Outreach Services Assistant for the Ontario Historical Society. Maggie hopes to further these interests in her future studies at Oxford University, where she will read for a Master of Studies in Global and Imperial History. As Maggie stated: “I am honoured and humbled to have received this award in recognition of my efforts with the Point Abino Association.”
Congratulations Maggie on your wonderful contributions to the heritage community!
