Job Title:  Consulting Archivist 

Organization Name:  Horizon House 

Location:  Seattle, WA 

Stipend:  $7500.00  

Closing Date for Application:  9/25/2025, 11:59 PM PST 

Start Date for Project:  11/3/2025  

Estimated End Date: January or February 2026

Recruiter:  Lorraine McConaghy 

Email:  mcconaghyl@icloud.com 

Phone and text:  425.922.5587 

Project Summary: 

The general scope of this archival consultancy is to review the Horizon House existing collection, consult with Horizon House staff and residents, establish a new, broader collecting plan and the structure to accommodate it, set best practices, and to work with the University of Washington Special Collections team to develop the process by which Horizon House institutional archival material will pass to the custody of the University of Washington Libraries. 

Project Context: 

Horizon House is a non-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) that was founded in 1961. Located on First Hill, in downtown Seattle, Horizon House is a campus of three high-rise towers, with a fourth to open in 2029.  

The original Horizon House opened in 1961, the year before Seattle’s Century 21 World’s Fair, in the midst of a decade of remarkable transformation of metro Seattle.That decade, 1955-1965, marked revolutionary innovations in Seattle civic, political, racial, environmental, gender, technological, cultural, and artistic expressions and experiences. As a non-profit retirement community, in an urban setting, Horizon House consciously intended to weave compassion with capitalism, to create a diverse and inclusive body of residents who were actively engaged in their own aging and in the fabric of the city. The hundreds of residents at Horizon House run their own programs, from live music to self-governance, and have done so for nearly 75 years. And the Horizon House model has proven successful, continuing into the 21^st century, when many similar non-profit CCRCs have either filed for bankruptcy or sold to private equity investors.  

The newly framed Horizon House archives should document this biography for the use of residents, but also of scholars, journalists, and interested members of the general public. The custody and care of the Horizon House archive at University of Washington Special Collections will provide intellectual and physical control, and public access. 

Position and Project Summary:  

Horizon House is seeking an experienced professional archivist to accomplish three tasks, working with the pertinent residents and staff members at Horizon Houseand with pertinent staff at the University of Washington, Special Collections. 

First, the consulting archivist will survey the existing Horizon House archives – herein designated as the “core collection” - which have focused on the records and activities of the Residents’ Council and its subcommittees. For instance, the Residents’ Council meeting minutes collection begins in 1961 and continues to the present and into the future. This core collection has been surveyed and organized by the standing Archives Committee. The consulting archivist will have recommendations about organization and retention. 

Second, the consulting archivist will work with corporate and Residents’ Council representatives to determine the scope of a new collecting plan for the Horizon House archives that is broader than that of the core collection. This may include minutes of the Board of Trustees, selected records of the Horizon House corporation (like annual reports), project-oriented collections (like development of the North Tower), digital material (like oral history interviews and certain programs), photographs, and ephemera (like the weekly newsletter of Horizon House). This second project task will involve issuing a call for new contributions to meet the broader collecting plan, and require the consulting archivist to devise a management plan to process this new archival material and an archival structure in which to organize it. 

Third, working with the accessioning and processing archivists at the University of Washington Special Collections, the Horizon House consulting archivist will establish a process to transfer and re-house the Horizon House collection to the University of Washington Special Collections, including the core collection and other documentsand material set out in the new collecting plan. This process would also include clear guidance on how to develop and manage current and ongoing records – minutes, annual reports, correspondence (whether actual or digital) – and retain them for processing from Horizon House to the UW Special Collections.  

Attributes for success 

Ability to work collegially with Horizon House corporate staff and with Horizon House residents, as well as with processing and accessioning archivists at UW Special Collections 

Comprehensive knowledge of records and information management practices and principles, archival processes, and relevant laws and regulations 

Knowledge and experience with life cycle management of both physical and electronic records 

Knowledge of records storage and information retrieval for both physical and electronic records, including Content Manager (CM) or other electronic recordkeeping software 

Knowledge and experience with litigation holds and the eDiscovery process  

Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams) and Adobe Acrobat  

Diversity and Inclusion: 

At Horizon House, we value diversity, advance equity, and practice inclusion in every aspect of this continuing care retirement community, from residents to staff and contractors.  

To Qualify: 

Please draft and submit a proposal in a two-page letter which addresses your experience and ability to undertake the project as described above. Please note if you have had experience with institutional archival development and management, and note any experiences you have had that would support your success in undertaking this project.  

This position requires a master’s degree in archives and records administration, plus applicable work experience. 

Certification by the Institute of Certified Records Managers (CRM), Academy of Certified Archivists, or Society of American Archivists (SAA) is preferred for this position.  

Please include your resume or cv, indicating your education and professional experiences.Note places and dates for your degrees and certification/s, the names of employers and your working title for each position, the dates of employment, and clear contact information for your references. 

Screening and Evaluation: 

Application 

The online application packet should include the following documents: 

Two-page cover letter that includes a proposal, outliningwhat interests you about this position, and the ways in which your experience and education are applicable to the project 

Your resume 

Selection Process: 

initial review  

in-depth evaluation to identify most qualified candidates, including reference checks 

consideration by Horizon House selection committee of potential consulting archivists 

interviews of selected candidates 

selection announced 

Starting date for project November 3, 2025. 

Questions? 

Recruiter:  Lorraine McConaghy 

Email:  mcconaghyl@icloud.com 

Phone and text: 425.922.5587