Can I rant for a minute?

[L Verge]

Yet another example, Rob, of the age-old fight between "academic" historians and "amateur" historians. Unfortunately, the letters MA and PhD after your name and a teaching position at a college or university seem to be what earns one credence. It is very sad, especially when we all know some excellent "amateurs" who do the work on their own without the benefit of research assistants, etc. Such is life in the history field, supposedly.

I am also not a fan of NEH or its equivalents in many state levels. You see a great disparity between the funding of the "arts" and the funding of historical and similar projects. And, unfortunately, when the budget is tight, the Humanities Councils are what take the hit. If you are in the history museums field, you can forget it. They start ignoring you first.

Personally, I think you should call this a rant. You have every reason to. I'm sorry for your disappointment. Have you checked with any history departments to see if there are worthy students looking for research experience as interns - preferably free internships?