Lead Archivist, Shelby White & Leon Levy Institutional Archives Initiative

Reports to:   Associate Director of Institutional Archives and Collections

Department:   President’s Office

Status:   Exempt, Full-Time, 3-year Term

About Central Park Conservancy

Central Park is one of the world's most famous and beloved public spaces. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1858, the 843-acre Park was the country's first purpose-built public park and is a National Historic Landmark and a New York Scenic Landmark. The Central Park Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1980 to rescue the Park, which had fallen into serious disrepair. Since then, the Conservancy has overseen the investment of over $1.6 billion in the restoration of the Park, which now hosts over 40 million visitors a year.

The Conservancy’s mission is to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from urban life. The City of New York has formally entrusted the management of the Park to the Conservancy which is responsible for every aspect of its care, including landscape maintenance, capital improvements, and the visitor experience. The Conservancy employs roughly 400 people and has an annual operating budget of over $100 million. The Conservancy is one of the City’s largest and most successful public private partnerships and is considered a major civic institution given its impact on the health of the Park and the vibrancy of the City.

Job Summary:

The Central Park Conservancy Archives is seeking a Lead Archivist to oversee the Conservancy’s grant-funded, three-year Shelby White & Leon Levy Institutional Archives Initiative. This initiative aims to complete the processing and digitization of our photographic collections, as well as create a publicly accessible digital collection, to improve accessibility and ensure preservation of the materials.

The Conservancy Archives maintains a physical collection of documents, photographic media, and other records that chronicle the management of Central Park and the Conservancy’s institutional history since its founding in 1980 and slightly before. The photograph collection is a significant part of the archives, consisting of 35 mm color slides, black and white negatives, and photographic prints, with a total of approximately 400,000 frames. These materials document the history of both the Park and the Conservancy, capturing major restoration projects, Conservancy programs, and events, activities, and visitors in the Park. They are a valuable resource of interest not only to institutional staff and external researchers but also to all New Yorkers.

The primary objectives of this initiative are to complete the processing of our slide and negatives collections, digitize selected images to enhance access, and develop a user-friendly digital collection that is accessible online. Working under the Associate Director of Institutional Archives and Collections, the Lead Archivist will be responsible for spearheading this initiative and ensuring that project milestones and reporting requirements are met. This role includes developing workflows and standards at all stages of the project, identifying materials for digitization, coordinating with external digitalization vendors, and selecting and launching a user-friendly digital collections platform. The Lead Archivist will also participate in the physical processing and description of materials, preparing them for digitization, and cataloging digitized scans, working alongside a processing archivist who will undertake similar tasks.

Summary of Essential Job Functions:

• Manage the Conservancy's comprehensive effort to complete the processing of our extensive 35mm slide and negatives collections, digitize selected highlights, and create an accessible digital collection
• Develop a project plan for all phases of the initiative and ensure that the team meets all project milestones
• Survey processed and unprocessed materials to identify and prioritize items for processing and digitization
• Contribute to the processing, rehousing, and description of 35mm slides and other photographic media
• Establish selection criteria for digitization, considering the condition, informational value, and general interest in the materials
• Track and report project progress; prepare documentation for internal stakeholders and the foundation
• Serve as the main point of contact with external digitization providers and coordinate the transfer of materials, ensuring their safety
• Lead the effort to select and launch a digital collections platform that is user-friendly and aligns with institutional goals
• Establish guidelines for metadata and description of digitized materials, informed by professional and institutional standards and vocabularies
• Ensure quality control of digitized i