My name is Jacob Phillips. I graduated from the University of Virginia last May and spent the summer working as a Nau Center intern at Manassas National Battlefield Park, the site of the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Manassas is the third National Park that I have worked at for the Nau Center. In previous years, I interned at Fredericksburg and Antietam. As with my previous internships, working at Manassas made for a wonderful summer. It allowed me to learn more about the Civil War and to apply the knowledge I have spent the last four years developing into a public history experience. Each day, I greeted hundreds of visitors from America and around the world, who walked through the front doors of our museum and toured the park’s forty miles of walking and bridle trails. In these interactions, I answered visitors’ questions about the men who fought and died on the battlefield, the civilians who made their homes in the area, and the politics of the war that brought massive armies to the knolls of Manassas twice over the course of the Civil War. 

My primary responsibility at Manassas was to create and lead walking tours. Over three months at the park, I gave tours covering First Manassas, Second Manassas, and the West Virginians who fought for the Union at Second Manassas. I presented these tours to groups of between three and fifty people. One of the pleasures of creating these tours is that the park staff allowed us to make them our own. This gave me the space to introduce the public to topics that interest me, such as the vast legal changes that the Civil War and Reconstruction brought to the country. These experiences also helped me develop my ability in public speaking. Besides giving tours, the park staff offered a plethora of other opportunities. Over the summer, I taught children about the Civil War through Junior Ranger activities, did ancestor research for visitors, hiked through the park’s forests to pick up litter, led historic house tours, participated in living history, and even helped fire a cannon! 

Now that my internship has come to an end, I am applying to begin law school in the fall of 2026. My time at the battlefield this summer has given me the space to ponder this next phase of my life and think about my future career. At the root of my work at American Civil War battlefield parks is the ongoing effort to remember the sacrifices of people who gave and lost everything, sacrifices that contributed to fundamental changes in American law and the country’s very perceptions of freedom and justice. At the beginning of the summer, on Memorial Day, the battlefield interns spent the day reading the names of every soldier killed at First and Second Manassas. We read for over eight hours straight. We did not finish the list. My experience memorializing and telling the stories of the Americans who experienced the tragedy of the Civil War has deepened my appreciation for the laws they protected and passed—laws that still benefit Americans today. My internship at Manassas National Battlefield Park bolstered my determination and drive as I prepare for law school and further solidified my commitment to the career path I am pursuing.