Oral & Public Historian – Forests of the Last 50 Years

Oral History; Durham (NC); Hybrid; USD 52,000 - 57,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and vision benefits

Retirement plan with employer contrib.

Paid time off

Job summary

The Forest History Society is seeking an Oral/Public Historian (OPH) in Durham, NC for a 3-year grant-funded initiative to collect and process oral histories and expand the project’s reach among historians and the public.

The OPH will conduct interviews, engage communities, and contribute to exhibits, publications, blogs, and public programs, reporting to the Program Manager. Travel throughout the U.S. and Canada is required; some limited remote work may be possible.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree, training, or experience in public/oral history or related fields preferred.
• Experience conducting oral history interviews including planning, interviewing, and documentation.
• Ability to work with diverse communities with cultural sensitivity and strong communication.

Responsibilities

• Conduct and process oral-history interviews with diverse narrators in the U.S. and Canada.
• Build and manage relationships with narrators and partner communities.
• Contribute to exhibits, publications, blogs, and public programs.

Skills

Oral history interviewing

Public history

Interpersonal skills

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Transcription software

Metadata tools

Audio/Video editing software

Job description

Location: Durham, NC
Employment: Full-time | 3-year grant-funded (with possibility of continuation)
Organization: Forest History Society

Position Overview

The Forest History Society is seeking a highly organized and collaborative Oral/Public Historian (OPH) to our new multi-year initiative, Forests of the Last 50 Years.

This 3-year initiative includes major efforts to secure oral histories and documents from key individuals from the last 50 years of forest history, significantly enhancing FHS’s collections, programming, and visibility to forest and environmental historians as well as the broader public. The OPH will conduct and help process oral histories, advise on the acquisition of documents, and engage in outreach to the public and professional historians to raise awareness of the project and FHS as a destination for historical research and scholarship.

The position is a two- to three-year position with possibility of renewal depending on available funding.

About the Project

The Forests of the Last 50 Years project will document the transformative changes since the 1970s in forest science, policy, management, ownership, and public understanding across the U.S. and Canada. Through oral histories, archival collection, public programming, and national convenings, the project will significantly expand the collections, visibility, and reach of the Forest History Society. Learn more about this project here .

What You’ll Do

This full-time, term-limited role will focus on conducting and processing oral history interviews, building and managing relationships with narrators and partner communities, and contributing to interpretive outputs such as exhibits, publications, blog and social media content, and public programs.

The OPH will report directly to the Program Manager and collaborate with library staff, researchers, and external partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct oral history interviews with a wide range of narrators from diverse communities, including forestry, land management, tribal and indigenous forestry, forest products and timberland investment sectors in the U.S. and Canada.
• Develop interviewing plans, consent procedures, and archival-ready documentation following professional oral-history standards and ethical guidelines.
• Build and maintain respectful, tactful relationships with narrators and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
• Coordinate scheduling, logistics, and follow-up communications with interview participants.
• Collaborate with library/archives staff on transcription, metadata, cataloging, and preservation to ensure preservation to the highest archival standards.
• Participate in project research and contribute context for interpretation of interviews and related materials.
• Support development of public-facing materials such as digital exhibits, narrative reports, publications, and presentations.
• Support the stewardship and reporting to project funders and create updates to internal and external stakeholders.
• Assist with outreach to scholarly community and members of the public to highlight the lessons of the past and the value of the project-related holdings.
• Help promote the collections to researchers and scholars.
• Maintain accurate records, tracking progress toward interview and documentation goals.
• Uphold the organization’s mission, values, and commitments to cultural sensitivity, equity, and ethical storytelling.
• This position requires travel throughout the U.S. and Canada to conduct in-person interviews and possible travel to conferences and project-related workshops.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree, training, or experience in public and oral history, environmental and/or forest history, folklore, anthropology, or a related field preferred.
• Demonstrated experience conducting oral history interviews, including planning, interviewing, processing, and documentation.
• Knowledge of forest history, environmental history, and natural resource issues, or related subject areas. Intellectually curious and keen to fill knowledge gaps with speed and humility to understand the complex, interconnected factors that contributed to the major changes in forest history during this period.
• Ability to assimilate and analyze technical, forest-related content and translate this knowledge with accuracy and clarity to make understandable to scholarly and public audiences.
• Ability to work with tact, cultural sensitivity, and technical understanding with a wide range of stakeholders, including rural communities and Indigenous partners.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills and the ability to build trust-based relationships.
• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to meet project deadlines.
• Familiarity with oral history equipment, transcription and metadata tools, and best practices for digital archiving is beneficial. Facility with editing and A/V production software also a plus.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a small collaborative team and travel 1-3 times per month throughout the US and Canada to conduct oral histories on site.
• Salary range: $52,000–$57,000, commensurate with experience
• Health and vision benefits
• Retirement plan with employer contribution after one year of employment
• Paid time off
• This is an in-person position located in Durham, NC with the possibility of limited remote work.