Job: Photography Conservator (The Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

[Michael Wong]

As part of the Digital Center for Americana initiative, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is undertaking a processing, cataloging, conservation, and digitization project involving twenty-one ethnic history collections. These collections span over three hundred years and document a diverse range of ethnic groups and activities, with portions in Swedish, French, Greek, Japanese, or German (old script).

The Project Photograph Conservator, a member of the library staff supervised by the Director of Preservation and Conservation Services,  will assess and perform treatments on damaged or at-risk photoprints, film- or glass-based slides and negatives, and cased photographs. She or he will also advise the Director of Conservation regarding treatment of photographs and may research and recommend improved storage options for photographic materials.

This is a part-time, limited-term position (Monday-Friday, 21 hours per week, one year).

Primary Responsibilities:

- Develop conservation plan for working with material in the Grant Collections.

- Perform conservation and preservation tasks on variety of Photo types including (but not limited to) all types of cased photographs, albumen prints, cellulose negatives, silverprints, glass negatives and slides, colored prints, 35mm film.

- Assisting with decisions on long-term preservation and developing conservation plan for working with the collections in the NEH grant.

- Contribute to collection inventories and finding aids regarding items treated for mold.

Job Requirements:

B.A. in an art or science field (or equivalent experience), and conservation training or experience specifically in photography preservation required; experience working with 19^th Century  photographs preferred, including, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and albumen prints.  Strong organization and communication skills; familiarity with a variety of computer applications preferred. Must be able to lift 40 pounds.

Details of the application, including contact details, can be found here. Good luck, especially in lifting the 40lbs!