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.

Salary Range: $96,336-$121,413/year