As part of our educational mission, PPS nearly always has student interns in the office assisting with special projects and learning about historic preservation advocacy in Providence. Meet the cohort of hard-working interns who contributed to PPS’ work this summer!

Colin Prancl is from Voorheesville, New York and is a rising senior pursuing a major in History and double minor in Italian and Film Studies at Providence College. He has always been drawn to history as it allows him to understand how we have arrived at the world we live in today. For Colin’s internship project this summer he has been looking into Providence’s history of sports. This project sprung up after a sports historian reached out to PPS asking about the NFL team that played in Providence in the 1920s, and Colin researched the site and its history to see if the former site of the Providence Cyclodrome would qualify for a PPS marker.

Elizabeth Howland Smith Interns

Cristian Natareno is a recent graduate from Trinity Academy of Performing Arts. Through this internship he hopes to gain a much greater appreciation for his hometown of Providence before he heads off to Vassar College in the fall. He is still deciding what field of study he wants to go into as he loves all sorts of things and hates feeling locked in when there are so many different ways to learn, create, grow, and help your community. He hopes to love his home a little more, love history a little more and learn more about ways he can help make the world a better place for everyone. Cristian is researching the Guatemalan diaspora in Providence and identifying important sites related to Latine heritage.

Sophia Ramirez is a 23-year-old, Queer, History student at Rhode Island College. Her studies initially began as an education major but now focus on a Bachelor’s in History. She’s a Rhode Island native, born in Providence, and raised in East Providence. Sophia hopes that by working with the Providence Preservation Society she can not only further her historical knowledge but also learn what it takes to preserve her community. For her independent project, Sophia is expanding PPS’ materials for an LGBTQ+ tour on the Guide to Providence Architecture.