Meet the Interns

The Scott House, headquarters of the Ridgefield Historical Society, hosted more than a dozen interns this summer working on research, cataloging and collections.

The Historical Society Summer 2026 interns included high school students and both undergraduate and graduate college students. Students studying everything from history to art, statistics to archaeology, gave their time to further the mission of the Historical Society. These internships were made possible by the generosity of the Georgianne Kasuli Family and the Goldstone Family. Meet the interns and see what they’ve been up to!

Sydney Hansen- Archaeology Intern

Sydney graduated magna cum laude from Western Connecticut State University in May of this year with a bachelors degree in anthropology and sociology. She also earned a minor in history and cultural resource management. She is now working on her masters studying archaeology and cultural resource management at Southern Connecticut State University.

Through her work at the Historical Society, cataloging one of its significant archaeology collections, Sydney says she has “learned how intertwined archaeology and history are. It is important to understand history before you can understand archaeology.”

Morgan Hils- Collections Intern

Morgan is a junior at Fordham University in New York studying psychology with a particular interest in organizational psychology. He is a graduate of King School in Stamford.

Morgan has been working on cataloging and documenting a “Unity Banner” that was created by students at Veterans Park School the day after the 9/11 attacks. The banner highlights the many different ways people cope with traumatic events, “the unity banner is an example of how the students created something to get their mind off the trauma of the day’s events” says Morgan.

Anna Williams- Goldstone Family Peter Parley Schoolhouse Intern

Anna is a junior at the University of Vermont studying history and religion. This year she will be the station manager at one of the schools radio stations.

Anna grew up in the historic Peter Parley (Samuel Goodrich) residence and was excited for the opportunity to learn more about him through her internship at the Historical Society which is the custodian of the West Lane/Peter Parley Schoolhouse. For her internship Anna cataloged the contents of the schoolhouse, now a small museum, and “gained an understanding of what early education looked like in the 19th and 20th centuries.” She noted “how much Samuel Goodrich (Peter Parley) contributed to schooling and education programs for young learners as well as his desire to continue learning and expanding his understanding of the world.”

Sofia Mongardi- Goldstone Family Donor Management Intern

Sofia, a graduate of Ridgefield High School moved to Ridgefield after previously living abroad in Tanzania and Oman. She is a sophomore at Mt. Holyoke College considering a double major in studio art and either history or politics. Sofia’s ultimate goal is working for the United Nations.

In high school, Sofia conducted interviews for the Historical Society’s LGBTQ+ Oral History Project. This summer she has been working on the society’s donor management project. “What I have found really interesting is seeing how much our community comes together to support and preserve Ridgefield’s history, through attending events to learn about the town’s past, donating to projects such as the Battle of Ridgefield documentary, and volunteering at the Ridgefield Historical Society.”

Cameron Morales- Collections Intern

Cameron is a junior at University of Massachusetts at Amherst and came to the historical society seeking to continue his service to the Ridgefield community. Cameron has volunteered at Weir Farm and as a volunteer instructor at Legacy Martial Arts.

Cameron was a dedicated intern at the historical society working on a variety of collections and oral history projects including cataloging hand written letters and postcards for the historical society’s collection

Ace Carpenter- Statistics Interns

Ace graduated Ridgefield High School in 2025 and is a sophomore at Smith College double majoring in statistical and data sciences as well as studio art.

Ace’s internship has been focused on using data analysis to increase the society’s reach and membership both locally and outside of Ridgefield. “It’s been fascinating to find ways to measure and categorize people’s interest in the Historical Society while developing a plan to encourage residents and others to visit or donate through outreach.” Ace plans to create a survey for Historical Society members to categorize their demographics and their motivations for membership.

Jane Prusko- Georgianne Kasuli Family Collections Intern

Jane has interned with the Historical Society her junior and senior years in high school, last year as a sophomore in college and again as a junior at Mount Holyoke. She is double majoring in history and english with the ultimate goal of a career as an archivist in a museum or university.

Jane’s internship began with cataloging and documenting a tribute banner to those lost on 9/11, created by students at Veterans Park. She also worked on cataloging the Historical Societies large collection of political buttons spanning over 100 years. “Not only is it very cool to look at all these buttons, some of which predate WWII, but I’m also learning so much about US history in the process of researching them.”

George Avanlani-Ridgefield High School Senior Intern

George, a recent graduate of the Class of 2026 from Ridgefield High School, came to the Historical Society on recommendation from his sister Elana, a former High School Senior Intern at the Historical Society from the Ridgefield High School Class of 2024. George will be attending UCONN in the fall.

Much of George’s internship was spent working on the Historical Society’s Historic Plaque Program. However, George says that the most interesting part of his internship “was when the guest speaker (Tom McManus) came in and spoke about major trees that we can find in Ridgefield. I found it interesting how much more there was to these trees, such as their history, and the impact they had on Ridgefield over time.”

Joel Cholnick-Ridgefield High School Senior Intern

Joel is a Ridgefield High School Class of 2026 graduate and will be attending UCONN in the fall studying political science and possibly economics or history.

Joel worked on several important projects at the Historical Society including the Oral History transcribing project, organizing and scanning financial documents, and keeping inventory on books sold at the Historical Society. The Oral History Project was the most interesting to Joel, he “got to hear about the important people and families of Ridgefield, guest speakers at the high school, and radio shows that covered things such as important storms in Ridgefield’s history.”

Audrey Scherrman-Oral History Intern

Audrey is a senior at King School and is an active volunteer at Ridgebury Farm & Stables and Wilton Congregational Church.

As part of her internship, Audrey worked on transcribing oral histories of Irish families in Ridgefield, learning about where they came from and what life was like when they arrived in Ridgefield. Some of the oral histories date back to the 1970’s through 1990’s.

Luca Brina- Oral History Intern

Lucas is a rising Junior at Ridgefield High School with an interest in pursing law in college. He is a member of the High School fencing club.

Lucas was part of the Historical Society’s Oral History Project, listening to and checking oral histories for inaccuracies. His interest in history began in school learning about the Napolianic Wars, the Crusades and the Revolutionary War. Lucas found the internship very interesting and was surprised to learn about how local Ridgefielders “were very well connected to many well known celebrities”.

Emmett Boyar- Oral History Intern

Emmett is a sophomore at Ridgefield High School, active in theater and a member of track and field.

Emmett worked on the Historical Society’s Oral History Collection transcribing interviews from past Ridgefield residents. He says the internship has “helped me understand how the town has changed over time from the 1920’s to the 80’s and eventually to today”.

Sherry Yu – Oral History Intern

As a senior at Ridgefield High School, Sherry’s interests are focused on art history and human geography. She finds it interesting how “history connects to life in present times and how it connects to other aspects of life in the past.”

Sherry worked on the Oral History Project listening to stories told by Dick Venus about the some of the people who came to Ridgefield in the early 1900’s, including artist Frederick Remington.

Shannon Rush- Oral History Intern

Shannon is a Senior at Ridgefield High School, active in the community as a tutor for Grassroots, a non-profit organization that provides academic support at no cost to families, she has led toy drives for Citi Santa and holds an ambassador role for Clean Choices Together, a organization that promotes environmental integrity in small business.

Ridgefield Historical Society was a perfect fit for a summer internship for Shannon, who has taken challenging advanced history courses at Ridgefield High School and plans to pursue history as a major or minor in college next year. Shannon worked on the society’s Oral History collection.