Interpretation & Engagement Fellow

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Full-time Temp 35 or more hrs per wk Full-Time Chicago, IL, US

Salary: $50,000.00 Annually

POSITION TITLE:

Interpretation & Engagement Fellow

DEPARTMENT:
Education

REPORTS TO:

Director of Education

POSITION PERIOD: 3 years, October 2026-October 2029

WORK LOCATION:

Hybrid

FLSA STATUS:
Exempt

SALARY: $50,000

About the Chicago History Museum

The Chicago History Museum is a museum and research center dedicated to preserving, studying, and interpreting the history of Chicago and the United States. Founded in 1856 as the Chicago Historical Society, the museum is located at 1601 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. It serves as a hub for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement, offering both permanent and temporary exhibitions, educational programs, and research resources

Position Summary

The Chicago History Museum seeks a curious, organized, and community-centered Interpretation Fellow to support the development and implementation of Everyday Sacred, a multi-year exhibition series that explores places of memory, memorial, ritual, and belief in and around Chicago through stories of communities that have used, repurposed, and preserved these spaces over time.

Drawing on Chicago's legacy as a city of many faiths, cultures, and traditions, Everyday Sacred invites audiences to consider what makes a place sacred, why certain places are preserved and reused, and how communities continue to shape the meaning of these spaces across generations.

This fellowship offers a unique opportunity for emerging professionals interested in public history, community engagement, museum education, arts engagement, cultural heritage, religious studies, or public humanities. The Fellow will gain hands‑on experience in community‑based research, program development, exhibition interpretation, facilitation, storytelling, evaluation, and partnership building while working alongside museum staff, artists, educators, faith leaders, and community organizations.

Reporting to the director of education and in close collaboration with the curator of Everyday Sacred, the ideal candidate will possess an understanding of faith‑based, religious, and community‑informed places and an appreciation for the importance of these spaces in shaping individual and collective identity.

About Everyday Sacred

Everyday Sacred explores places of memory, memorial, ritual, and belief in and around Chicago through stories of communities that used, repurposed, and preserved these spaces over time. Through exhibitions, public programs, storytelling initiatives, and community partnerships, the project invites visitors to consider what makes places meaningful and how communities carry histories forward through preservation, adaptation, memory, and care. The Interpretation Fellow will play a vital role in helping connect community knowledge, museum collections, and public audiences, ensuring that Everyday Sacred reflects the many ways Chicagoans create, sustain, and share sacred spaces in everyday life.

• Build and maintain relationships with community organizations, faith communities, preservation advocates, artists, educators, and cultural partners connected to Everyday Sacred.
• Represent the Chicago History Museum at community meetings, programs, and partnership gatherings.
• Support outreach efforts to ensure broad community participation and representation.
• Coordinate communication and logistics with project stakeholders and community partners.
• Assist in planning and facilitating community…