The NPS Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship Program places recent humanities PhDs with NPS sites and programs across the agency. In collaboration with NPS staff and partners, the incoming cohort of fifteen (15) Fellows will contribute to planning and preparation for America at 250, an initiative inspired by the semi-quincentennial of the Declaration of Independence. This event provides an opportunity for the NPS to tell a more inclusive story of the American past and present. The NPS is committed to exploring the full complexity of our history, even if that history is uncomfortable, contested, or erased. The humanities research supported by this Fellowship will expand these efforts, encouraging creative approaches to documentation, interpretation, and outreach.

This opportunity is supported by a generous grant from The Mellon Foundation through the National Park Foundation (NPF). The project is administered via a three-way agreement among NPS, National Park Foundation (NPF), and American Conservation Experience (ACE).

Fellowship Title: National Park Service Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow: Freedom-seeking in the Era of the American Revolution

Employer: American Conservation Experience (ACE)

Department: EPIC Program, National Park Service (NPS) Division

Location: Eligible for remote/telework flexibility. Preferred locations are the Washington, DC Metro area or the Philadelphia, PA Metro area

Status: Temporary, Full-time, Exempt

Term: Position is fully funded through August 31, 2025

Start Date: September 2023

Host Description: This Fellowship is placed with the NPS Park History Program and the NPS Office of Commemorations and Anniversaries. The NPS Park History Program preserves and protects the nation's cultural and natural resources by conducting research on national parks, national historic landmarks, park planning and special history studies, oral histories, and interpretive and management plans. Its staff helps evaluate proposed new parks, and supports cultural resources personnel in parks, regional offices, and Washington in all matters relating to the history and mission of the Park Service. Based in Washington, D.C., the NPS Park History Program coordinates several agency-wide initiatives, including an oral history program, the African American Civil Rights Network (AACRN), the Maritime Heritage Program, and the World War II Heritage Cities program. The NPS Park History Program also serves as the Deputy Federal Preservation Office for the NPS, managing park National Register documentation and assisting parks and regional offices with Register and National Historic Landmark preparation.

Recently established by a Congressional appropriation, the NPS Office of Commemorations and Anniversaries provides leadership, guidance, and support for Service-wide activities related to national commemorations. It also provides best practices, lessons learned, and communities of practice for individual and local park and program anniversaries and commemorations.

ACE is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing rewarding environmental service opportunities for young adults and emerging professionals of all backgrounds to explore and improve public lands while gaining practical professional experience. The EPIC NPS Division works alongside the National Park Service across the United States, from Alaska to Puerto Rico, to support the NPS in its mission to "preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations" while providing career promoting individual placement opportunities.

Position Description: The NPS Park History Program, in partnership with the NPS Office of Commemorations and Anniversaries, is seeking one postdoctoral Fellow to contribute to research, interpretation, outreach, and educational and digital programming initiatives focused on the history of freedom-seeking during the era of the American Revolution. The Fellow will be part of a team that includes NPS staff, staff from partner public humanities agencies, scholars, and student interns from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It will enhance and amplify the existing work undertaken by the NPS Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Each NPS Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow will complete work in four areas. Fellows will (1) perform project-based research; (2) share research results; (3) produce and substantially contribute to interpretive and educational products; and (4) pursue career-focused work.

1) Project-Based Research: Scholarship on the topic of freedom-seeking during the revolutionary era is growing, but much work remains to be done to understand the diversity of freedom-seekers' experiences and the effects that their mass resistance to enslavement had on the American Revolution and its aftermath. During year one, the Fellow will conduct original research on this topic, drawing on their own expertise as well as the insights of NPS staff and outside mentors. An important element of the research agenda will be Indigenous histories, in particular exploring connections between the Underground Railroad and Indigenous communities across North America and the Caribbean. In year two, the Fellow will consult with their mentorship team, as well as other subject matter experts as needed, to propose a project for their second year.

2) Sharing Research Results: The Fellow will collaborate with their support team to share the results of their applied research with their hosts, cohort, Fellowship project team, the larger community of NPS staff and partners, and ultimately to visitors and community partners. This research will be shared on various platforms, including webinars, educational and interpretive content on NPS.gov and in-person sessions, with almost 700 Underground Railroad Network to Freedom sites located across 39 states, Washington D.C., and the US Virgin Islands. The work of the Fellow may also be used to nominate and/or highlight lesser-known sites to the Network. The Fellow will also serve as a liaison to other public history and humanities organizations.

The Fellow will be expected to develop and sustain connections with program-provided mentors and host staff, associated NPS staff, members of their Fellowship cohort, and other Fellows across the tenure of the program. In addition to being provided mentorship and support themselves, the Fellow will have the opportunity to mentor others and to enrich staff knowledge by organizing events such as virtual speaker series and presentations. Twice a year, the Fellow will participate with their cohort and other Fellows in a virtual conference for NPS staff and partners to provide updates about their research. The Fellow will be responsible for tracking and reporting accomplishments and for supplying copies of interpretive, educational, and research products to their host and to the National Coordinator.

3) Interpretive and Educational products: The Fellow will work with their mentors and support team to identify feasible interpretive and educational products informed by their research. Examples of potential interpretive and educational products developed for this Fellowship opportunity could include - advising on a short film intended for wide distribution to all NPS units; authoring content on NPS.gov highlighting research findings as well as syntheses of applicable secondary source materials; reviewing a handbook for use by NPS staff and the public; and developing content for in-person programming at NPS and partner sites. Ensuring that these products are historically accurate and reach as wide an audience as possible will be a priority of the Fellowship.

4) Career-focused research and products: In consultation with their mentors, the Fellow will carry out a career-centered project. About 20 percent of the Fellowship will be dedicated to this scholarly work that advances the Fellow's career path. The Fellow will be supported by a multidisciplinary team that draws on local, regional, and agency-wide expertise. In addition to NPS staff, the Fellow will also have an external mentor whose work addresses the history of freedom-seeking.

Essential Responsibilities and Tasks

• Conduct original research into the history of freedom-seeking during the era of the American Revolution; synthesize existing research to share with NPS and partner sites through in-person and virtual meetings and on multiple digital platforms.
• Create annotated bibliography of resources on freedom-seeking, with a focus on the 18th and early 19th centuries.
• Advise HBCU student interns on research best practices; Partner with HBCU student interns on interpretative products and program development, including content development for digital platforms.
• Assist with coordination of virtual programs to share research findings from this and other Mellon Humanities Fellowships with NPS staff, partner sites, and the general public.
• Host virtual programs for educators about research and Underground Railroad Network to Freedom nominations process to help students learn how to research and document sites in their communities.
• Provide recommendations on sites to consider for the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and the National Register of Historic Places. Assist with the nomination process where appropriate.

Required Experience and Qualifications:

• Must be a PhD in any field of the humanities or humanistic social sciences. Scholars who received or will receive their PhD between May 1, 2018, and August 15, 2023, are eligible to apply. For more information on eligibility, visit https://www.nationalparks.org/nps-mellon-humanities-postdoctoral-fellowship
• Subject matter expertise in African American history; Indigenous studies; public history; cultural anthropology; cultural landscapes; or labor history.
• Excellent research, writing, and communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
• Skill in project planning, organization, and time management; ability and desire to perform multiple concurrent and variable tasks
• Strong organizational skills to keep track of workload, tasks, and interactions
• Selective factors include the merit of scholarship and promise, commitment to the public humanities, and capacity to complete research successfully.

Other Requirements:

• Must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident, as required to comply with U.S. government contracts.
• Must be proficient in English.
• Must pass a federal criminal background check; Fellowship is also contingent upon a successful security background check with the NPS.
• Must be willing to abide by ACE Policy and Federal Drug Free workplace policies and laws. ACE reserves the right to drug test at any time
• Must verify that they are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by the time they start their Fellowship or request a medical or religious exemption.
• Must be willing to abide by a requirement to acknowledge The Mellon Foundation, the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation, and American Conservation Experience, in any publications generated by this project.
• Must be willing to abide by federal policy that research results, publications, films, videos, artistic or similar endeavors resulting from the Fellowship, other than the specifically career-focused work, will become the property of the United States, and as such, will be in the public domain and not subject to copyright laws.
• Consent to being photographed and to the release of such photographic images.

Physical Demands, Work Environment, and Working Conditions:

• Physical Demands: Requires frequent sitting, standing, walking, using hands to handle or feel, reaching with hands and arms, talks and hears with or without assistive personnel and/or devices. Manual dexterity required for use of computer keyboard/mouse and other office equipment with or without reasonable accommodations. May be occasionally required to stoop, kneel, climb stairs, and/or crouch (all physical demands are required with or without reasonable accommodations). The National Park Service host will provide reasonable accommodations, if needed, to meet task assignments.
• Vision Requirements: Requires close, distance, peripheral and depth perception vision as well as the ability to focus. The National Park Service host will provide reasonable accommodations, if needed, to meet task assignments.
• Environmental: Mainly indoor, office environment conditions; indoor air quality is good, and temperature is controlled. This is describing both provided office spaces and home office spaces.
• Noise Environment: Moderate noise such as in a business office with equipment and light traffic. This is describing both provided office spaces and home office spaces.
• Travel: This position requires domestic travel as needed for program duties.

Salary & Benefits:

Compensation: Starting annualized salary $65,000 with annualized COLA to $67,600 for Year 2 (40 hours/week for 52-weeks). Paid bi-weekly, a two-week pay period. Travel funding is provided, and Fellows will not be responsible for allowable/approved program travel. Each Fellow will receive an annual research fund of $3,000.

Medical/Health Benefits: ACE offers competitive medical and ancillary plans (health, mental health, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, and other supplemental benefits). Fellows are also eligible to participate in ACE's 403b retirement plan, which includes a 1% employer contribution for participating, contributing staff.

Holidays, Vacation, and Sick Time: As a Fellow, you will be eligible to accrue up to 80 hours of paid vacation time annually during your first two years of continuous employment. Additionally, ACE observes 13 paid annual holidays and provides 10 days (or 80 hours) of paid sick time annually.

Additional Benefits: Outdoor Perks - As an ACE Fellow, you will be eligible to receive pro deals which include deep discounts on outdoor gear providing 30 - 50% off retail prices on 100s of established outdoor gear brands.

To Apply: Please submit: 1) a cover letter stating interest and vision for the Fellowship (letters may include a summary of the dissertation, a statement of personal research interests and plans, discussion of past engagement with public humanities, discussion of willingness to participate fully in NPS research and education programs); 2) comprehensive curriculum vitae; 3) writing sample accessible to the general public; 4) confirmation of Ph.D. award by August 15, 2023; and 5) names and contact information for 3 professional references.

Deadline to apply: The deadline to apply is January 30, 2023, or until 75 applications have been received.

Questions about the application process should be sent to mellonhumanities@usaconservation.org

American Conservation Experience provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, American Conservation Experience complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. ACE encourages all qualified individuals to apply and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status. ACE is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities under the ADA and provides the opportunity for employees to request reasonable accommodations during the hiring process.