History Curator- 2 Positions Available

Job Responsibilities

Are you looking for a new and exciting opportunity to be part of an innovative team of professionals dedicated to telling South Carolina's diverse stories? Then the South Carolina State Museum is the place for you. Located in the central part of South Carolina, Columbia is renowned for its vibrant downtown scene, affordable cost of living, and easy access to beautiful mountains and beaches.

As the storytellers of South Carolina, the South Carolina State Museum (SCSM) strives to share the rich cultural and natural diversity of the state through its permanent collections, exhibitions, and programs. The SCSM is the largest museum in South Carolina, stewarding over 1.1 million objects, works of art, and specimens and has welcomed 5 million+ visitors over its 35-year history. The museum is embarking on a multi-million-dollar renovation of 150,000 square feet of its exhibition, programmatic, and collection storage spaces occupying four floors of a historic 1890s textile mill on the National Register of Historic Places. We are committed to sharing the numerous and intriguing stories of the state's past, present and future with our audiences. Join our team as we "reimagine" what the South Carolina State Museum can be for our next generation of visitors, students, and scholars. History lovers rejoice!

Job Overview

The South Carolina State Museum seeks a creative individual to help share the diverse stories of South Carolina through the acquisition, care, and access to the museum's collections and engagement with communities across the state. The SCSM's permanent collection focuses on objects and artifacts made, used and/or connected to the state, primarily from the 18th century through the present. This position will have the opportunity to work with objects and stories utilizing all aspects of our history collections. These include important artifacts associated with our state's cultural history, technology and industry, including clothing and textiles, furniture, decorative arts, household items, protest and political materials, military objects, transportation, space exploration, industrial machinery and scientific equipment, medical history, agricultural, business and communication innovations and more.

This position will have a unique opportunity to be a part of our museum team that is "reimagining" the museum's permanent galleries. This major renovation project will provide a new and exciting opportunity to explore the vast range of experiences, contributions, communities and related stories that exist across our state and its rich history.

Over the past 4 years, the museum has received close to a million dollars in federal and state funding to support the inventory and digitization of our permanent collections. Part of this position's responsibilities will be to support this ongoing initiative curatorially as our history and technology collections focused on innovation and technology are inventoried in the current phase of the grant.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Curatorial management of the museum's history collection, including researching, acquisition of objects, exhibition planning and conservation recommendations.

• Serving as a member of the exhibitions committee, working collaboratively in the research and development of changing exhibitions, as well as the museum's major renovation project, where staff will reimagine and reevaluate our permanent galleries.

• Assisting with related public programs for a wide range of audiences.

• Consulting with cultural organizations around the state and beyond regarding museum planning, collections management, and exhibition development while strengthening and building relationships with community leaders, scholars, collectors and organizations from across our state.

• Responding to and working with the public with requests for information related to objects, research and image use.

• Assisting with grant writing and reporting as appropriate.

• Working cross-disciplinarily in a team atmosphere to achieve the museum's strategic goals.

• All other duties as assigned.

Minimum and Additional Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution with a focus on history, museum studies or related field.

• Minimum three years of experience working within a museum or other presenting cultural organization or institution.

• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to maintain positive working relationships with a diverse group of people.

• Flexibility and adaptability, including a willingness to take positive action in a changing environment and to effectively analyze situations and problem solve.

• Demonstrated ability to work under deadlines and both work with a high degree of autonomy and participate effectively on a team.

• Excellent time management, organizational, and prioritization skills, with strong attention to detail and follow-through.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including an ability to develop presentations and interpretive exhibition content. Communicate information and ideas so others will understand and exchange accurate information in these situations.

• Must be self-motivated, take initiative, and exercise creativity.

Work Environment and Essential Functions

• Ability to travel statewide and stay overnight.

• Have a valid driver's license and be willing to drive vans.

• Ability to lift 30-50 pounds and use ladders and work safely and comfortably at elevated heights.

Preferred Qualifications

• Scholarly expertise related to South Carolina history, technology, industry and/or culture.

• Master's degree highly preferred.

• Experience with all aspects of exhibition planning and creation, including developing concepts and ideas for interactive experiences.

• Possesses a clear understanding of proper museum practices including object handling, documentation, and project management.

• Experience using Axiell's EMu collections management system or similar online database system is a plus.