HOURS

Reading Room
Mon-Thurs: 9:30am-4:30pm

Genealogy Institute
Tues-Thurs: 9:30am-4:30pm

Exhibit Spaces
Mon-Wed: 9:30am-4:30pm
Thurs: 9:30am-8pm
Fri: 10am-3pm
Sat: Closed
Sun: 11am-5pm

Make sure to check our holiday closures prior to visiting.

Last entry to the Center for Jewish History Exhibitions, Reading Room, and the Genealogy Institute is 30 minutes before closing. The last call to page items in the Reading Room and Genealogy Institute is 3pm.

Employment Opportunities

The Center for Jewish History is home to five partners—American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The partner collections total more than five miles of archival material and span nearly a thousand years of history. When the Center opened its doors as the new "Library of Congress of the Jewish people," it made a commitment to preserve the treasures that live within its walls and make them accessible to scholars, students, and diverse audiences. The Center relies on philanthropic support to do this work.

The Center is currently looking to fill the following position/s:

Under the supervision of CJH’s Director of Public Services, the new Assistant Director will administer and help run the Institute and also plan programs for the Jewish Public History Forum.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to

  • Support the President and the Reading Room team in their work with Institute fellows and in general work.
  • Bring public history fellows funded through the CJH Institute for Advanced Research to ongoing and new projects through the CJH partners as appropriate to support exhibitions and partner programs.
  • Encourage a sense of community among fellows, serve as primary liaison with fellows, arrange research seminars, facilitate the application and selection process, and maintain connection with past fellows.
  • Optimize the fellows’ research experience by collaborating with the Director of Public Services to plan tours and orientations for new fellows, encourage communications with the librarians in the Reading Room, and ensure clarity throughout the year concerning Reading Room policies and practices.
  • Work hand-in-hand with the Director of Public Services to integrate the fellowship program and the Reading Room and the Center’s Scholars Working Groups.
  • Support the President as the academic liaison to the Center’s exhibiting department, to assist Partners, the Center, and third parties as appropriate with exhibitions at the Center.
  • Work hand-in-hand with development to elevate awareness of the Center’s scholarly outreach and brand, assisting to raise funds relating to programs, exhibits, and the Center’s fellowship program.
  • Manage related grants and assist development efforts associated with academic engagement, including tracking grant requirements and reporting deadlines and contributing to the drafting of proposals, letters and reports.
  • Prepare budgets and monitor associated expenses.
  • Maintain statistics on events and fellowships and compile narrative reports when appropriate.
  • Develop outreach strategies and ensure effective promotion of fellowships and programming.
  • Work with the Center President to create scholarly programming that supports the Center Board’s mission for the organization
  • Stay current on professional and academic trends and best practices, participate in professional organizations, and attend relevant conferences and events as appropriate (including continuing scholarly publications of research as appropriate).
  • Envision and implement an engaging scholarly programming agenda that draws on Partner collections, exhibitions, and trends in contemporary culture and scholarship and appeals to the Center’s multiple audiences, from esteemed scholars to the general public.
    • This includes working closely with Center and Partner programming staff to support a strong set of scholarly programs for the whole community; supervising and attending relevant programs (including weekends and evenings as necessary); managing Virtual Scholar Forums; and researching, identifying and building relationships with potential presenters, institutional collaborators, and performers.
    • Work hand-in-hand with the Director of Public Services to coordinate the work, communications, and meetings of the Center’s Academic Advisory Council.

Prerequisites

  • PhD in History or related field
  • Minimum 3-4 years of related experience (including working with graduate and undergraduate students, archives, exhibitions, or academic administration)
  • Hands-on experience in public programming at cultural institutions
  • Competence in managing complicated operations, particularly related to multiple events and exhibits, and related workflow practices
  • Must have proven skills in managing deadlines and ability to multitask
  • Proven ability to work productively and collaboratively with all levels of staff

Additional Information:

  • This is a part-time position
  • Schedule to be set, generally Monday – Friday regularly scheduled to work 29 hours each week
  • The salary range for this position is $45,000 - $50,000

The Center for Jewish History is committed to diversity and inclusion. Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

Please submit a cover letter and resume to hr@cjh.org.

The Center for Jewish History seeks a Part-Time Genealogy Specialist to assist patrons of the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute in person and remotely.

The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute stands out as a unique destination for those passionate about family history because of its openness, expertise, innovative programs, and access to archival collections. The Genealogy Institute has been connecting researchers with their history and heritage for over 15 years at the Center for Jewish History. The successful applicant will join a dynamic team of forward-thinking and professionally engaged Center staff.

Reporting to the Director of Public Services, the Genealogy Specialist will work closely with the Manager of the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute and volunteers to assist genealogy researchers in person and remotely. The Genealogy Specialist will instruct researchers in the use of online genealogy databases, as well as direct researchers to resources located in the collections of the onsite partner organizations at the Center for Jewish History. The Genealogy Specialist will undertake special projects, including in-depth genealogy research for donors or other VIPs, in order to advance institutional and departmental goals and increase engagement with the Genealogy Institute.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to

  • Responding to genealogy inquiries via in-person interviews, phone, and email.
  • Completing special projects, including the creation of family history portfolios for donors or potential donors.
  • Updating and expanding genealogy-related research guides.
  • Assisting with the distribution of codes for free DNA kits provided by Ancestry to Holocaust survivors or their children through the Center for Jewish History.
  • Other tasks as assigned

Required Qualifications

  • Knowledge of genealogy research and resources, with an emphasis on Jewish genealogy.
  • Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in a collaborative setting.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Knowledge of Hebrew, Yiddish, and/or Russian.

Additional Information:

  • This is a part-time, temporary position, role ends 2/28/2025.
  • Schedule to be set, generally 3 days/week, Tuesday-Thursday, 15-20 hours.
  • The pay rate is $30/hour.

The Center for Jewish History is committed to diversity and inclusion. Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

Please submit a cover letter and resume to hr@cjh.org.

Health Coverage at the Center

Legal Compliance: This link leads to the machine-readable files that are made available in response to the federal Transparency in Coverage Rule and includes negotiated service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to more easily access and analyze data.