Duties Description The New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) Office of Cultural Education (OCE) is seeking candidates for a Museum Scientist 3 (Curator of African American History) position in the New York State Museum. This position will provide scholarly, curatorial, and public leadership in documenting and interpreting the African American experience in New York State.
Established in 1836, the New York State Museum is the oldest and largest state museum in the nation, with more than 20 million specimens and artifacts, 125,000 square feet of exhibition space, and approximately 500,000 annual visitors. As the Museum advances into a major period of renewal, this position offers an exceptional opportunity to shape collections, scholarship, exhibitions, and public programs with statewide impact.
As part of the Museum’s History Unit, the Curator of African American History will lead research, collections development, exhibitions, public programs, and partnerships that deepen understanding of African American history, culture, and contributions across New York. The successful candidate will conduct original research, expand collections, and develop exhibitions, publications, educational initiatives, and digital content for diverse audiences. Working collaboratively with colleagues, communities, cultural organizations, educators, and scholars, the Curator will provide leadership in advancing the Museum’s long-term approach to collecting, preserving, and interpreting African American history. Under the direct supervision of the Chief Curator of History, duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Conduct original historical research related to African American history, culture, communities, and lived experience in New York State;
- Develop, strengthen, and steward collections documenting African American history in New York, including objects, artifacts, documents, photographs, oral histories, digital materials, and other historically significant resources;
- Curate exhibitions and contribute to exhibition planning, interpretation, label writing, object selection, public programming, publications, media projects, and digital content related to African American history and broader New York State history;
- Collaborate with educators and curriculum specialists to support K-12, higher education, and lifelong learning initiatives related to African American history;
- Develop and deliver lectures, gallery talks, panel discussions, educational programs, public events, and other programs related to current exhibitions, collections, and ongoing research;
- Build and sustain partnerships with cultural, educational, and community organizations statewide to support community-engaged collecting, research, and interpretation of New York's diverse African American history;
- Produce scholarly and public-facing work for both specialized and family-based audiences, including articles, essays, exhibition texts, collection-based research, web content, presentations, and other interpretive materials that expand access to Museum collections and historical knowledge;
- Represent the New York State Museum in professional organizations, conferences, and meetings, and support statewide history initiatives, publications, commissions, commemorations, and other programs;
- Identify, pursue, and help manage competitive grants, partnerships, and other external funding opportunities; represent the New York State Museum in professional, academic, community, and public forums; and participate in Museum-wide planning efforts, collections committees, exhibition teams, and cross-disciplinary initiatives that support the Museum’s mission.
Minimum Qualifications NON-COMPETITIVE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
To be considered for appointment candidates must meet the minimum qualifications for this position. The qualifications are:
- Bachelor’s Degree and four years of professional experience or a Master’s degree and three years of professional experience or a doctoral degree and one year of professional experience.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Special consideration will be given to candidates who possess the following qualifications:
- Doctorate in History, African American History, Public History, Art History, African American/Africana Studies**, American Studies**, Museum Studies**, or a closely related field;
- Two years’ full-time experience working with collections, exhibitions, research, or public programs in a collection-based history institution, museum, historical society, archive, library, university, or comparable cultural institution;
- Demonstrated expertise in African American history through research, exhibitions, publications, public projects, presentations at professional and/or public meetings, and/or other content-driven public history projects; and
- Demonstrated experience conducting, managing, preserving, or interpreting oral history projects and community-based documentation initiatives that capture and amplify historically underrepresented voices and perspectives.
The ideal candidate will possess strong scholarly and curatorial judgment; demonstrated expertise in African American history; experience developing collections, exhibitions, publications, public programs, or other public-facing history projects; and a commitment to making historical research accessible and meaningful to broad audiences. Strong written and verbal communication skills, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to build collaborative relationships with colleagues, community partners, scholars, educators, and cultural organizations are essential.
Additional Comments CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: This will be a permanent, non-competitive appointment. Promotions and transfers may change appointees’ negotiating unit. Candidates should be aware that changes in negotiating units may affect their salary, insurance, and other benefits. Verification of qualifying degree will be required at the time of interview for all candidates. This position will require 20% in-state/Statewide travel.
This position leads to a maximum salary of $121,413 based on annual performance advances and traineeship advances. For new State employees appointed to graded positions, the annual salary is the hiring rate (beginning of the Salary Range) of the position. Promotion salaries are calculated by the NYS Office of the State Comptroller in accordance with NYS Civil Service Law, OSC Payroll rules and regulations and negotiated union contracts
Interested in a job with New York State, but don’t know where to start?
Visit these links for information on working for New York State:
- https://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/
- https://www.cs.ny.gov/pio/publications/gettingajob.pdf
Generous benefits of working for New York State, including, but not limited to, the following:
Holiday & Paid Time Off
- Thirteen (13) paid holidays annually.
- Thirteen (13) days of paid vacation leave in year one, increasing to 20+ days with additional years of service.
- Five (5) days of paid personal leave annually.
- Thirteen (13) days of paid sick leave annually for PEF/CSEA and eight (8) days paid sick leave annually for M/C.
- Annual professional leave and educational leave opportunities for eligible staff.
Health Care Benefits
- Eligible employees and dependents can choose from a variety of affordable and generous health insurance programs.
- Family dental and vision benefits at no additional cost.
Additional Benefits
- Enrollment in the New York State pension system which has earned the distinction of being one of the best-managed and best-funded plans in the nation OR Optional Retirement Defined Contribution Plan with 8% salary match (eligibility requirements apply).
- NYS Deferred Compensation and an exclusive 403(b) Optional Retirement Savings Plan.
- Paid Parental Leave for all employees and Paid Family Leave (M/C Only).
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
- Opportunities for telecommuting.
- Eligibility for various life insurance options.
New York State Education Department (NYSED) is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. NYS Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, domestic violence victim status, gender identity, prior conviction records, prior arrests, youthful offender adjudications, or sealed records.
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