Historians

Research, analyze, record, and interpret the past as recorded in sources, such as government and institutional records, newspapers and other periodicals, photographs, interviews, films, and unpublished manuscripts, such as personal diaries and letters.

Job Task

• Conduct historical research as a basis for the identification, conservation, and reconstruction of historic places and materials.
• Conduct historical research, and publish or present findings and theories.
• Determine which topics to research, or pursue research topics specified by clients or employers.
• Gather historical data from sources such as archives, court records, diaries, news files, and photographs, as well as collect data sources such as books, pamphlets, and periodicals.
• Organize data, and analyze and interpret its authenticity and relative significance.
• Organize information for publication and for other means of dissemination, such as use in CD-ROMs or Internet sites.
• Research the history of a particular country or region, or of a specific time period.
• Trace historical development in a particular field, such as social, cultural, political, or diplomatic history.
• Advise or consult with individuals and institutions regarding issues such as the historical authenticity of materials or the customs of a specific historical period.
• Collect detailed information on individuals for use in biographies.
• Coordinate activities of workers engaged in cataloging and filing materials.
• Interview people in order to gather information about historical events, and to record oral histories.
• Prepare publications and exhibits, or review those prepared by others in order to ensure their historical accuracy.
• Present historical accounts in terms of individuals or social, ethnic, political, economic, or geographic groupings.
• Research and prepare manuscripts in support of public programming and the development of exhibits at historic sites, museums, libraries, and archives.
• Teach and conduct research in colleges, universities, museums, and other research agencies and schools.
• Translate or request translation of reference materials.
• Edit historical society publications.
• Recommend actions related to historical art, such as which items to add to a collection or which items to display in an exhibit.
• Speak to various groups, organizations, and clubs in order to promote the aims and activities of historical societies.

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