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" 16 years ago, 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 the Senior Manager of Metadata & Discovery Services and working closely with staff in the Shelby White & Leon Levy Archival Processing Lab, the Intern will learn fundamental training related to archival description and collection-level cataloging by assisting with metadata remediation and enrichment. He or she will gain experience working with the web-based archival management application ArchivesSpace and Ex Libris’ Aleph integrated library system. The Intern will begin with review and remediation of migrated archival description and their corresponding catalog records; after becoming familiar with ArchivesSpace and Aleph, he or she can pursue a departmental project in line with their interests, such as providing access to born-digital material via the Center’s digital asset management system, cataloging oral histories and unique material, or metadata analysis.
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 email cover letter and resume to Eric Fritzler, Senior Manager for Metadata and Discovery, at eafritzler@cjh.org. A strong application will explain how this internship aligns with your academic or personal interests and goals, and will include your relevant knowledge, experience and skills.
No phone calls, please.
This upcoming summer, the Center for Jewish History, is offering enriching internships across its Development, Finance, and Digital Services divisions. Interns will have the opportunity to gain knowledge from professionals in their respective fields of interest. The summer internships have flexible dates and we are willing to work with you on full time or part time hours with the possibility of extension into the fall semester.
In all cases, interns are expected to demonstrate a strong work ethic, and a commitment to the mission of preservation, understanding and supporting the study of history. We will provide an unlimited MetroCard for the duration of the internship and are willing to discuss ‘for credit’ opportunities.
As a member of the Finance and FP&A team, the Financial Intern will support the Center for Jewish History and assist in maintaining and developing business controls and reports to ensure financial accuracy.
Your role and responsibilities will include:
Skills & Qualifications requirements: Working towards a BA or MA degree in a finance-related field; good Microsoft Excel skills.
For more information regarding this internship, please contact internships@cjh.org.
As a member of the Development team, the Development Intern will support the Center for Jewish History and assist in maintaining and developing procedures within the department, providing improvements to our Raiser’s Edge database and performing prospect research.
Your role and responsibilities will include:
For more information regarding this internship, please contact internships@cjh.org.
As a member of the Digital Services team, the Photography Intern will support the Center for Jewish History in digitizing collections held by the Center’s five partner organizations: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Your role and responsibilities will include:
Skills and qualifications requirements: Digital photography experience; knowledge of image production and file management (including metadata and color management) using Adobe Creative Cloud (Lightroom, Photoshop, and Bridge); experience in operating and troubleshooting 35mm DSLR cameras.
For more information regarding this internship, please contact internships@cjh.org.
We offer internships that serve as a unique opportunity for students to expand their academic interests, gain new skills in the field of public history, and acquire knowledge and experience enabling them to compete in the non-academic job market.
All interns are offered compulsory monthly seminars combining lectures, discussions, and hands-on activities, to ensure that the internships can be taken for university credit.
Students will be trained to co-lead our on-site primary sources workshops for high schools, as well as guide tours at the Center and walking tours of the neighborhood; they will learn how to research and design their own guided tours, walking tours, and community-building public history projects.
In a pedagogical sub-track, interns will not only be trained to work with high-school students and teach with primary sources; they will also work on designing their own assignments, syllabi, and assessment/feedback criteria, and will be encouraged to test them out, under the supervision of the Center’s staff.
Students will work with visiting scholars at the Center, helping them with their specific research projects. Attending the CJH seminars will help them incorporate the skills they gain with visiting scholars in broader contexts.
Students will serve as assistant curators of projects developed at the Center. They will also be encouraged to work on their own curatorial projects, and will get additional training with our staff.
The ideal candidate is:
Strong writing skills and additional languages are a plus, but not required.
Please send your resume and a short cover letter (400 words max) that includes your academic interests and explains your interest in this internship to education@cjh.org.
A tour consists of a visit to the exhibitions of the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (Yeshiva University Museum has a separate docent program) and the public areas of the Center (usually the Leo & Julie Forchheimer Auditorium, the Paul S. & Sylvia Steinberg Great Hall, Lillian Goldman Reading Room, Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, and the Shelby White & Leon Levy Collection Management and Conservation Wing). Guides who lead these tours are knowledgeable about the facilities and the mission and scope of activities of the Center for Jewish History, and they are able to describe the exhibitions in the Partner’s exhibition cases. Tour guides give approximately 1 -2 tours each month and attend periodic training sessions on new exhibitions.
Ushers work at special events held at the Center. They take tickets and give out programs and may perform other tasks, as needed. The usher is welcome to stay and view the performance. Most events requiring ushers are held weekday evenings or on Sundays. Each usher is responsible for being available 45 minutes before the event to several minutes after the event begins. They may occasionally be asked to stay after the program to help with a reception or book sales.
Office assistants work in various offices throughout the Center. Tasks may include coordinating mailings, addressing and stuffing envelopes, filing, answering phones and making phone calls, handling RSVPs to events, data entry and related office tasks. Some offices are seeking researchers and assistants for special projects. The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute needs volunteers who are experienced with family history research to assist patrons. Librarians may need volunteers to catalog books and related tasks. Required hours are worked out with the individual departments.
The Center maintains a list of translators who are willing to help Reading Room and Genealogy Institute patrons translate documents. Staff members give the name of the patron to the translator, who then reaches out to the patron to make arrangements. Translations may be done at the Center or remotely. Translators are needed in almost any language, but the most commonly requested translations are from Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and German.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Center, please contact Julie Kaplan, Volunteer Coordinator, at cjhvolunteer@cjh.org or call (917) 606-8226.