Assistant Archivist, Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College, Newport RI
Posted March 30, 2014
The Naval Historical Collection (NHC) at U. S. Naval War College is seeking applications and nominations for an energetic and innovative professional to fill the newly created position of Assistant Archivist (AA). The AA reports to the Head Archivist and will participate in appraisal, accessioning, description, capturing oral histories, government records management and developing the NHC Website. Critical to this position will be participating in a new vision for the NHC that bridges traditional archival practices with the growing focus on digital curation, preservation and long-term information stewardship.
The Naval Historical Collection
The Naval Historical Collection (NHC) is the custodian of the Naval War College’s 128 year history, the history of the Navy in Narragansett Bay, and naval warfare as practiced during the last 200 years. Established in 1969 and located in Mahan Hall, the collection’s primary source materials are of interest to naval historians, scholars, and students of American military and diplomatic history, Naval War College students, faculty and staff, and the general public. The Naval War College archives contain more than 1,200 feet of records documenting the administrative and curricular history of the institution since its founding in 1884. The archives house 45 record groups, including administrative correspondence, curriculum items and publications, conference proceedings, library records, lectures, faculty and staff presentations, theses, World War II Battle Evaluation Group records, and a vast array of intelligence and technical source materials pertaining to technological developments and strategic and tactical problems of interest to the Navy.
The archives contains more than 266 manuscript collections containing the personal and official papers of Naval War College presidents, professors, and naval officers who have served on the staff or have been affiliated with the institution during the years, including those of Alfred Thayer Mahan, Stephen B. Luce, Raymond A. Spruance, H. Kent Hewitt and James B. Stockdale. In addition to the larger collections, single manuscript items represent a growing and unique body of documents available for research. There are now more than 636 letters, journals, letterpress volumes, certificates, commissions, and signatures stored in the Naval Historical Collection. Representative holdings in this category range from letters of Admirals David Farragut, Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., and William Leahy to a 1783 paymaster’s book from the USS Alliance, which was homeported in Providence at the time.
The Naval Historical Collection’s current Strategic Plan addresses the preservation, facilities, and environmental requirements for the collection, as well as the pressing need to digitize collections for accessibility by researchers worldwide.
For additional information or to apply for this position, watch for announcements in USAJOBS
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/365104600