Careers at American Ancestors/NEHGS

The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center (JHC), an archive and educational center whose collections specialize in the Jewish history of Boston and New England, is seeking candidates for a Historian in Residence position in the 2024-2025 academic year. An exciting opportunity for a post doc, scholar at the beginning of their academic career, adjunct faculty member, public historian, or teacher, the Historian in Residence will provide scholarly expertise to the JHC, will conduct research within the JHC’s archives, and will spotlight stories and insights from the collections in articles and talks for the public.

Responsibilities

The Historian in Residence’s responsibilities include research, writing, and presentations using the JHC’s collections. The historian will:

• Design and implement a research project on a topic or theme inspired by the holdings of the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center (in consultation with JHC staff); and connect and contextualize that topic within American Jewish history by also consulting related holdings at other local or national repositories.
• Write a minimum of two articles based on this research for publication in American Ancestors magazine and contribute occasional blog posts to the JHC and American Ancestors websites.
• Develop at least two lectures based on their research, to be presented online or in person, with the possibility of contributing to other public programs given by the JHC.
• Provide consultation to JHC staff about Jewish history as/when needed.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will:

• Have at minimum a Master’s degree in history, American Jewish history, or a related field.
• Demonstrate superb writing, research, and presentation skills.
• Have experience with public history and/or interpreting and presenting historical content for a wide variety of audiences.
• Be able to work both independently and collaboratively as part of the JHC team.

Terms and Stipend

Reporting to the Executive Director, this flexible, funded position begins on or after September 1, 2024, within a mutually agreed-upon schedule. This could entail 15–20 hours a week over the academic year (September 2024 through May 2025), or full-time work over a 4–5 month period. Remote work is possible, but the Historian is expected to spend at least some time each month working onsite with the JHC’s collections. The annual stipend for the academic year is $30,000.

To Apply

Candidates should submit a resume and/or CV; two references; and a statement of interest (no more than 1,000 words) that addresses:

• Your current research interests
• Your experience researching in archival collections
• A research project using JHC collections that you would propose after having reviewed collection information on the JHC website (JewishHeritageCenter.org/archives/collections). (Note: this proposed project is not binding.)
• 3 to 4 JHC collections you might use for this project
• Related collections at local or national archival repositories that you might consult.

Please send the above materials to:

Rachel King, Executive Director
Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at American Ancestors
99-101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
rachel.king@nehgs.org

About the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at American Ancestors

The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center (JHC) is a premier center for collecting, preserving, and illuminating Jewish history and heritage. Located at American Ancestors in Boston, the country’s founding genealogical organization, the JHC serves thousands of historians, genealogists, students, and members of the public each year. Its archives focus on the Jewish history of New England and contain more than four million records and more than 700,000 searchable documents in its digital collections. The JHC also offers educational programs about Jewish history, heritage, and culture at its historic Boston home, in the community, and online.

The Historian in Residence position is funded by Richard Schilder and the Schilder Family, in honor of Justin L. Wyner.