Hi, Matt --

One of the good things about majoring in history is that it does not disqualify you for any career, but, like other liberal arts majors, it does not necessarily qualify you, either.

A google search for history careers turns up millions of hits - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=history+careers&aq=0&oq=history+career

The first one seems like a good place to start --
http://www.historians.org/pubs/Free/careers/index.htm

Many of the positions you mention require an advanced degree in addition to a Bachelor of Arts degree (and people come to these professions with all sorts of undergraduate majors).  Librarians obtain Master's degrees in library or information science after attending grad school full time requires a 1.5 to 2 year commitment.  Lawyers get a J.D. (Juris Doctor) after 3 years of law school plus they have to pass the bar exam in order to practice in the state in which they plan to practice.  Educators (K-12) usually have an undergraduate major in education with at least a semester of practice teaching; at the college or university level, they will have a master's degree or Ph.D.

One profession that historians often enter is that of archives.   Most positions now require either a Master's degree in history or in library or information science.  Frequently archivists also have Ph.D degrees. 
Take a look at the Society of American Archivists web site - www.archivists.org - for more information about this field and job opportunities.

In addition to Museum-L, MuseJobs (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MuseJobs/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1 for information about joining this group) is a good place to look for positions in the field.  Read the qualifications requirements to get an idea of what matches the credentials you have or expect to have when you begin looking for a job.  Be forewarned -- museum jobs that do not require an advanced degree will offer low wages and expect the employee to do a wide range of tasks, many of which will have nothing to do with history.

Fellowships generally require a master's or Ph.D. degree and they provide an opportunity to do in-depth research in a subject area which the candidate has selected. Obtaining a fellowship is a highly competitive
process; it can be very helpful in furthering a person's career but most fellows have already begun working in the field and demonstrated their ability to pursue scholarly research.

Good luck --

Judy Turner
Whitefish Bay, WI
 
--- On Thu, 12/18/08, Matthew Mangarella <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Matthew Mangarella <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] history career exploration
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008, 11:55 AM
> Hi, my name is Matthew Mangarella and I have some questions
> about history career exploration. Could anyone out there
> suggest to me what good websites I could look at when it
> comes to history career exploration?
<snip>




      

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