1. January 26, 2016
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
25 Main Street,
Cooperstown, NY 13326
To the Internship Coordinator,
I am pleased to recommend Andrew Lang for a curatorial internship with the
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Andrew is an excellent student
with a strong work ethic. He is smart and motivated, and he has high-level
writing and speaking skills. Moreover, he has a deep interest in the history of
sports, especially baseball, as demonstrated by his undergraduate thesis
entitled: “‘O’Malley’s Pleasure Dome’: The Ballpark in the Postwar American
City.” He will be presenting a revised version of this research at an urban
history conference at Boston University this spring.
Andrew has been my student in two courses and is currently enrolled in a third
with me, so I am well equipped to evaluate his performance in a range of
contexts. In “Research and Fieldwork,” he made valuable contributions to his
research team and completed a full-length oral history interview. Andrew’s
research team explored the history of the Ryerson family in Cooperstown. The
Ryersons lost their patriarch during the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Andrew
masterfully contextualized the story of the Ryersons while not losing sight of
the human tragedy of the narrative. For the oral history, I chose to give
Andrew a challenging assignment. I asked him to interview a retired Bassett
doctor who has had a wide array of fascinating experiences, including being
interned in China during World War II as a child. Andrew was very
conscientious in his preparations, and consequently, he was able to navigate
successfully the dynamics of a complex interview.
In the other course he took with me last semester—“Migration and
Community”—Andrew distinguished himself as a creative researcher and a
critical thinker. This course explored immigration history, and Andrew was an
active contributor to our class discussions and projects. His final project was a
well-executed digital timeline that examined the history of “Displaced
Children and Rescue Narratives.” You can find it here:
http://tinyurl.com/z7xgvsh. The timeline clearly showcases Andrew’s skills as
a researcher and writer. The depth of his research was unmatched among his
classmates and, as a result, the final project is deeply engaging. I could easily
imagine Andrew’s research forming the basis for a fascinating physical
exhibition on the topic.

2. Andrew has the preparation, skills, and know-how to succeed as a curator, and I am
confident that he will be an excellent contributor to your curatorial team.
If I can be of further assistance, or provide you with any additional information, please do
not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
William S. Walker
Associate Professor of History
Cooperstown Graduate Program
State University of New York-Oneonta
(607) 547-2586
william.walker@oneonta.edu