African American Historic Places Fellow
Posted October 16, 2008| Type | Full Time |
| Offered By | National Trust for Historic Preservation Office of Historic Sites Washington, District of Columbia |
| Salary | 12 Month, Grant Funded Position with Full Benefits |
| For More Information | 27310-CS-815@nthp.hrmdirect.com |
The Fellow will assist with developing, maintaining, and promoting African American Historic Places Initiative (AAHPI) programs and activities. Begun in 2002, AAHPI focuses on building the capacity of the nation's African American historic places. In the first phase of the program, the goal was to determine the challenges that African American historic places faced, and to determine in what ways the academic community could be a partner in alleviating some of those challenges. From that first phase came the creation of the Inventory of African American Historic Places in the U.S., a database of approximately 9,500 historic places around the country, an Advisory Board with representatives from the historic site and academic communities, and a State of Affairs paper that summarized the work undertaken during the first phase.
In the current phase of AAHPI, the National Trust will be working directly with African American historic sites and graduate African American Studies programs to help develop model collaborative programming both to improve the preservation and interpretation of African American historic sites and to enhance the curriculum of African American Studies. The Trust will also enhance and maintain a web portal for AAHPI to provide the general public with an opportunity to learn about and comment on the preservation and interpretation of African American historic places.
This is a 12-month temporary grant funded position, with full benefits, funded in part by the Ford Foundation.
Duties
- Serve as the liaison between African American historic sites and graduate programs in African American Studies;
- Develop resource materials for the Web to aid and encourage the preservation and interpretation of African American historic sites;
- Assist with the management of a small grant program for scholars and sites;
- Maintain an on-line database of African American historic sites and a section of the PreservationNation Web site;
- Conduct research and interpretation at selected National Trust Historic Sites;
- Travel to African American Studies related conferences/meetings to provide information about the AAHPI and to identify potential partner organizations/individuals for the NTHP;
- Assist the Director for Diversity continue the effort of engaging the African American historic preservation community.
Qualifications
Education
- M.A. in African American Studies, Black Studies, or equivalent required; Ph.D. preferred.
Experience
- One year experience working in education, interpretation, research, or management of historic or cultural resources required; one year working in public history or academic history or at a museum or historic site preferred
- Experience in managing detailed projects, including drafting project plans, schedules, and reports.
- Experience producing content for publications, presentations, or exhibitions required; online content preferred.
Special Skills
- Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading required.
- Basic understanding and experience with computers and Internet research required.
- Familiarity with common word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation software required; image and HTML editing software preferred
- Familiarity with social networking media, such as blogging and image sharing, preferred
Professional Attributes
- Motivation, confidence and self-starting qualities. Ability to work productively and independently
- Must be collegial with other staff
- Must be highly organized and able to work on a number of projects at once
- Must be entrepreneurial and highly creative
- Must be able to climb stairs or ladders to fifteen feet
- Must have a current driver's license
- The position requires some overnight out-of-town travel
How to Apply
To apply, please include a cover letter in the body of a message and email your resume as a Word, PDF or Text attachment to the address above.
