Archives Assistant, Part-Time

About the Opportunity

This position reports to the African American History Archivist in the University Archives and Special Collections (UASC), at the Snell Library on the Boston campus.

The successful candidate will support the Archivist with several research, public history, and archiving projects. The position’s primary responsibility is to assist the Archivist in supporting the Racial Redress and Reparations Lab of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice (CRRJ), an affiliate program of the Center for Law, Equity and Race’s research of legacies of slavery in the City of Boston that adversely affected Black residents of the city.

The position will collect and make publicly available the archival evidence that supports the research team, who will focus on the following topics : public school desegregation, the police and fire departments’ employment practices, and public housing segregation.

The position will also collect, organize, and describe evidence of how the City’s exclusionary practices affected the lives of Black residents, the legal and policy measures that addressed the discrimination, and the relevance to contemporary social relations, economic factors, and other outcomes.

In addition to the CRRJ research project, additional projects may include research of the African American History Collections at UASC, identification of additional research repositories for special projects, digital exhibit curation, physical exhibit curation, support for resource center and student group programming on campus, and social media campaigns.

This position offers an opportunity to refine and improve research and communication skills while learning how to use information organization platforms and digital scholarship tools.

This position is right for someone detail-oriented, interested in Boston history, and has a passion for nitty-gritty civil rights work.

Duties may include :

Research USAC collections

Identify relevant research repositories

Compile research materials into appropriate storage locations

Create research bibliographies

Creating digital exhibits and blog posts

Categorize digitized images based on item-type

Other duties as assigned

Qualifications :

Enrollment in a graduate archival or history degree program

Excellent organizational skills

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Interest in critical librarianship and inclusive and ethical archival practices

Commitment to lowering barriers to access and use in archives and special collections

Familiarity or comfort with applications and interfaces such as Alma, ArchivesSpace, and WordPress

The position is less than half-time, and is expected to last 4-6 months. Compensation is $21 / hr.

Position Type

Temporary