Job Description
Archivist/Project Manager
New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center seeks an archivist/project manager for a part-time, one year contract, to facilitate public access to its growing collection of fishing community history. Since opening to the public in 2016, the Center has amassed a significant collection of documents, images, objects, and digital media representing the local fishing community’s history and ethnography. This collection is unique as the Fishing Heritage Center is the only organization actively preserving the story of New Bedford’s fishing industry and community. Objects in the collection include nautical charts, fishermen’s logbooks, books, periodicals, settlement sheets, tools, equipment, union ledgers, film reels, photographs, documents, clothing, unusual catches (pottery, dinnerware, fossilized shellfish, prehistoric teeth, bottles, etc.) as well as a digital collection including scanned photographs and documents as well as approximately 400 hours of oral history interviews and 500 hours of audio recordings of traditional music and facilitated discussions from Working Waterfront Festival.
The Project Manager will work approximately 20 hours per week and will assist staff, volunteers, and the Center’s Collections Committee to develop and implement a Collections Management Plan. This position will oversee the effort to inventory, accession, and catalogue the existing collection, train staff and volunteers, and make the collection publicly accessible using Past Perfect (an online collections database). Additionally, they will work with staff to plan and present public programming including monthly scanning days (public digitizing events) and a video series highlighting interesting objects in the FHC collection.
Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree required, with some advanced coursework in museum studies, public humanities, or archival/library science preferred. Highly organized, dependable, and detail-oriented individual with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Must be comfortable working in a small office environment with minimal privacy and must be able to multitask and prioritize in a dynamic work environment. Must have knowledge of museum methods and collection care, organization and handling. Experience with Past Perfect preferred. Familiarity with or family connection to the fishing industry a plus.
Benefits & Additional Compensation Info
Compensation: $20-$25/hour, no benefits
The Community
New Bedford is a diverse, working class community known for its whaling history. It is the largest and most valuable commercial fishing port in the nation.
HR Info
To apply, send cover letter, resume, and 3 references to Laura Orleans, Executive Director: director@fishingheritagecenter.org