History Jobs, Work and Resources
As a Public Historian, I take a fairly broad view of what “history” is and use a liberal definition of the job of an historian. These job listings reflect that, reaching from the academic to the archival. They cross the museum world, historic sites and even entertainment.
Public Historians are the ambassadors of history. They act as mediators, connecting history to the community, preserving heritage so it can be counted in history, finding resources and funding to promote and preserve the past, and presenting the past in partnership with diverse stakeholders.
This is my jobs list, tuned toward the history of sciences a bit. Your milage may vary. It is also a working document.
As you conduct your search, help it grow by sending your job sources to share. I am especially interested in gathering more field specific sources. Email sandyclaus@gmail.com.
The Job Outlook for Historians:
These are sources on the job prospects for historians and current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is generally not happy news.
Chronicle of Higher Education: – January 8, 2012
http://chronicle.com/article/Historians-Reflect-on-Forces/130262/
Chronicle of Higher Education: – January 2, 2012
http://chronicle.com/article/Jobs-for-New-PhDs-in/130190/
Chronicle of Higher Education: – January, 3, 2011
http://chronicle.com/article/Historians-Continue-to-Face/125794/
AHA Data on the Historical Profession:
http://www.historians.org/info/AHA_Data.cfm
BLS Archivists, Curators and Museum Technicians:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos065.htm
Alternatives in the History Field:
If you have been locked into one vision of historian, here are some alternative career paths you may want to consider.
Chronicle of Higher Education: – January 2, 2012
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Sweet-Spot-of-a/130145/
American Historical Association:
http://www.historians.org/
http://www.historians.org/jobs/index.htm
https://www.historians.org/jobads/ (Login Required)
Organization of American Historians:
http://www.oah.org/
http://careers.oah.org/jobs
Other Sources listed through the AHA:
http://www.historians.org/governance/tfph/PublicHistoryEmployment.htm
Public History:
From Melissa Bingham at the AHA:
http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2009/0903/0903pub1.cfm
AHA Careers in Public History:
http://www.historians.org/governance/tfph/PublicHistoryEmployment.htm
Archives:
Society of American Archivists:
http://www2.archivists.org/
Sources and Job Boards:
Job Sites:
General purpose job sites seem to do a POOR job of getting the word out about historian positions. Often they scrape and re post from other sites and may have old or irrelevant positions listed. This should not be your first and only source of postings.
Simply Hired:
http://www.simplyhired.com/a/jobs/list/q-historian
USA Jobs:
This may be the exception to the prohibition of general job listings as government employment for historians at the national archives, national parks and through the extensive Army history program are all listed here.
http://www.usajobs.gov/
Histpres
A site devoted to historic preservation jobs.
http://histpres.com/category/job
Associations and Organizations:
Generally, these are the best sources for a general job search within a history specialty. They gather a wide sampling of listings presorted for relevance. They are a much better starting point than general employment boards.
H-net:
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/home.php
New England Museum Association
http://www.nemanet.org/nemajobsonline.htm
Arts of China Consortium:
This is a list of resources related to jobs in the area of asian arts and cultural studies hosted by the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/html/chinese/position.html
Middle East Studies Association:
http://www.mesa.arizona.edu/publications/newsletter/employment.html
Individual Institutions:
University of Missouri, Kansas City:
http://www.umkc.edu/hr/career-opportunities/default.asp
Culture Foam: Bubbling Up 
Comments»
No comments yet — be the first.