Applications open for S.F. historian

Applications are back open for Santa Fe’s city historian position after the city did not make a selection following an application process in the spring.

Chelsey Johnson, who joined the city as arts and culture director in September, said the city decided to align the position with the calendar year instead of the fiscal year along with a similar switch for the poet laureate program.

She did not know why the selection process this spring, which took place when the city was between arts and culture directors, did not net a selection.

Applications for the current term are due Dec. 31. The position is yearlong with the potential to be renewed for a second year contingent on funding.

The theme for the upcoming year is “local storytelling,” according to the city’s website.

“This theme focuses on cultural heritage in the city with an emphasis on community-centered storytelling through gathering local histories to provide context beyond the dominant tri-cultural narrative,” the website says.

The historian will also be guided by recommendations from the CHART report, which was commissioned by the city following the partial toppling of the Soldiers’ Monument on Santa Fe Plaza on Indigenous People’s Day in 2020.

Recommendations for the report’s section on history included holding additional events promoting “the complex history of Santa Fe” and undertaking a review of the programs held by the city.

Applications for the historian position must include a twopage letter of interest, a résumé or CV and links to “examples of the individual’s leadership in public history, community engagement or cultural work.”

To qualify, applicants must live within Santa Fe County

◆ Questions and application materials can be sent to artsand culture@santafenm.gov.

and are preferred to have an advanced degree in history or a related field. A background in communications or public relations is desired but not required, according to the city.

The position comes with a $10,000 honorarium and requires the historian to hold a lecture series and develop other public events related to the city’s history.

“One thing I think the city historian has great potential to do, and past historians have done well, is they can really reveal that history is not past,” Johnson said.

History is “living, vibrant, and sometimes contentious,” she said, and in a city as old as Santa Fe, there are many different histories that overlap.

“There’s a lot to draw from,” Johnson said.