The Harvard Slavery Remembrance Program (“HSRP”) is a special-purpose task force of the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative. Guided by the recommendations put forward by the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery in April 2022, our work is anchored in a commitment to reckoning with Harvard’s own legacy and to repairing inequities caused by slavery. In close collaboration with the New England Historic Genealogical Society, we identify the direct descendants of enslaved individuals who labored on Harvard’s campus and of those who were enslaved by Harvard leadership, faculty, or staff. The University’s acknowledgement of direct descendants’ lineage, through the HSRP, is a vital step in Harvard’s quest for truth, reconciliation, and repair.

The heart of the HSRP’s work is conducted by a small number of highly qualified, carefully selected research fellows. HSRP Research Fellows have front-line responsibility for using archival resources to identify enslaved individuals who labored on Harvard’s campus and those enslaved by Harvard leadership, faculty, or staff (the “Research Population”). Research Fellows work at the frontier of HSRP knowledge-discovery and collect the raw material from which genealogical and historical conclusions can later be fashioned. The success of our mission depends in large measure on the imagination, persistence, and rigor of these individuals.

The HSRP’s Research Fellow is the most independent, experienced, and highly qualified member of the HSRP archival research team.

Primary Functions:

The Research Fellow performs the following essential duties and responsibilities, alone and in collaboration with others:

• Plan, conduct, and manage complex research strategies, tasks, and initiatives.
• Design research approaches and integrate research findings.
• Formulate research methods, analyze data, and report on findings.
• Write reports, working papers, internal memoranda, and journal articles.
• Independently and carefully select and review specific archival materials (both digital and analog), housed inside or outside Harvard University, for evidence and information relating to the Research Population.
• Collect raw digital images of all relevant evidence and record full citation information for same.
• Make connections between disparate pieces of evidence and identify potentially fruitful avenues for further research.
• Communicate with the HSRP’s Chief Research Coordinator on a regular basis (i.e., at least weekly), and transmit lists of all archival sources and materials (productive and unproductive) reviewed since the last communication.
• Play a leading role in weekly Zoom calls with HSRP colleagues to share findings, discuss sources, and recommend next steps.
• Provide mentoring, guidance and advice to junior researchers and external collaborators.
• Manage IRB compliance, if needed.

The Research Fellow’s primary responsibility is to identify as many individual members of the Research Population as possible (i.e., within the confines of overall hours expected and the Program’s rigorous research methodologies). The Research Fellow’s secondary responsibility is to mentor more junior researchers and other HSRP personnel on an informal, as-requested basis. The Research Fellow will occasionally be asked to help manage staff, projects, or budgets (i.e., beyond specific tasks and initiatives to which the Research Fellow has been personally assigned).

The Research Fellow must possess the following basic qualifications:

• Ph.D. or other terminal degree and five (5) years of related experience.
• Basic familiarity with MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

• Ph.D. or other terminal degree in a program requiring substantial original archival research and/or knowledge-discovery.
• Proven capacity to set high academic standards and long-term research goals, and work steadily against them with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to draw connections between seemingly unrelated facts; detect patterns within incomplete data sets; and identify potentially fruitful areas for further research.
• Demonstrated ability to decipher cursive writing in English, Spanish or Portuguese in 17th—19th century manuscripts.
• Excellent communication (oral and written), critical thinking, organization, and diplomatic skills.
• Demonstrated success conducting similar research in a higher education context.
• Extensive knowledge of and interest in academic institutions, racial justice, and legacies of slavery.
• Academic interest in Black cultures, Indigenous cultures, and/or the history of slavery in North America.
• Academic interest in the history of New England and/or the West Indies.
• Prior experience in a fact-intensive occupation such as law, journalism, or experimental science.
• Demonstrated ability to promote and provide others with a collaborative and inclusive work environment.

The demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The Research Fellow must have the ability to:

• Review and the content of written materials and communications composed primarily in English.
• Use a variety of electronic computing and communications devices.
• Travel on a regular basis to the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and to other locations as and when required.
• Spend substantial periods of time on a regular basis consulting archival collections in both physical and online locations and formats.
• Communicate verbally (both in person and remotely) with other personnel from the HSRP and Harvard University for uninterrupted periods of time lasting up to 60 minutes, without break.

Harvard University supports a hybrid workplace model which will actively support some remote work. Specific days and schedules for on-site work and remote work will be discussed during the interview process. Please note hybrid workers must reside in a state where Harvard is registered to do business (CA, CT, GA, IL, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VA, VT, and WA).

The health of our workforce is a priority for Harvard University. With that in mind, we strongly encourage all employees to be up to date on CDC-recommended vaccines.

• Paid Time Off: 3-4 weeks of accrued vacation time per year (3 weeks for support staff and 4 weeks for administrative/professional staff), 12 accrued sick days per year, 12.5 holidays plus a Winter Recess in December/January, 3 personal days per year (prorated based on date of hire), and up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents who are primary care givers.
• Health and Welfare: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, disability and life insurance programs, along with voluntary benefits. Most coverage begins as of your start date.
• Work/Life and Wellness: Child and elder/adult care resources including on campus childcare centers, Employee Assistance Program, and wellness programs related to stress management, nutrition, meditation, and more.
• Retirement: University-funded retirement plan with contributions from 5% to 15% of eligible compensation, based on age and earnings with full vesting after 3 years of service.
• Tuition Assistance Program: Competitive program including $40 per class at the Harvard Extension School and reduced tuition through other participating Harvard graduate schools.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Program that provides 75% to 90% reimbursement up to $5,250 per calendar year for eligible courses taken at other accredited institutions.
• Professional Development: Programs and classes at little or no cost, including through the Harvard Center for Workplace Development and LinkedIn Learning.
• Commuting and Transportation: Various commuter options handled through the Parking Office, including discounted parking, half-priced public transportation passes and pre-tax transit passes, biking benefits, and more.
• Harvard Facilities Access, Discounts and Perks: Access to Harvard athletic and fitness facilities, libraries, campus events, credit union, and more, as well as discounts to various types of services (legal, financial, etc.) and cultural and leisure activities throughout metro-Boston.