Dr. Christina Ziegler-McPherson

EDUCATION

University of California – Santa Barbara, California, USA

• PhD, History, September 1995 – March 2000; GPA: 3.95 out of 4.0
• Master of Arts, History, September 1995 – August 1997
• Bachelor of Arts, History of Public Policy, September 1987 – March 1994

EXPERIENCE

Head of Research, Zolltor AI 1 June 2025 – present
28203 Bremen
Research at a Bremen-based SaaS software start-up that develops AI-powered trade intelligence for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Curator, Haus der Geschichte, Baden-Württemberg 1 June 2022–31 May 2024
70182 Stuttgart
Curator of the 500-square-metre special exhibition ‘American Dreams, A New Life in the USA’, which ran from 16 November 2023 to 28 July 2024 at the Haus der Geschichte, Baden-Württemberg, and attracted approximately 33,000 visitors. Collaborated with the company büroberlin and the media studio Schnelle Bunte Bilder on the exhibition design. Employed as an expert in migration and American history. Key responsibilities: translating the exhibition texts from German into English, negotiating loans from the US and developing a multimedia station using AI, leading 36 workshops and guided tours for school pupils and visitors. Wrote 13 of the 35 entries in the catalogue.

Participant, Musealog2022, the Museum Academy, 7 February 2022–19 May 2022
26703 Emden

Participant in the professional development course, ‘Specialist in Collection Management and Quality Standards in Museums’; partner museum: Museum Nordenham, Nordenham, Lower Saxony.

Research Assistant, German Maritime Museum / Leibniz Institute for Maritime History, 1 May 2020 to 31 December 2021

27568 Bremerhaven

Project management and academic coordination of special exhibitions and other projects carried out under Action Plan II ‘A World in Motion’, initiated by the Leibniz Association. Responsibilities:

• Leading a team responsible for visitor research, outreach and public relations
• Internal communication and coordination between the academic department, exhibition project management, technical services, museum education and administration
• Cost control and monitoring of the Action Plan’s budget (€1 million over 2 years)
• Collaboration with other Leibniz research museums on joint projects aimed at transferring scientific knowledge to the public
• Preparation, follow-up, participation and representation of the DSM at Leibniz conferences, including international conferences
• Contribution to the design of the ‘Passenger Shipping and Migration’ section of the new permanent exhibition
• Curator of the ‘Migration’ section of the major special exhibition, ‘CHANGE NOW – Ships Change the World’, which was on display at the museum from 25 February 2022 to 31 July 2022
• Active development of transatlantic dialogue formats and applications for external funding
• Academic collaboration with the Leibniz Chair holder and visiting scholars
• Organisation of the workshop “‘The Ship as a Space of Transit?’ Perspectives on German maritime migration history”, May 2021
• Translation of academic texts into English

Visiting Researcher, German Maritime Museum / Leibniz Institute for Maritime History 1 November 2016 to 30 April 2020
27568 Bremerhaven
Responsibilities:

• Collaboration on the redesign of the migration section of the new permanent exhibition
• Research for the book *The Great Disappearing Act: Germans in New York City, 1880–1930*. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, December 2021
• Representing the museum at regional specialist conferences organised by the Museumsverband Niedersachsen und Bremen e.V. (Museum Association of Lower Saxony and Bremen) as part of the ‘Neue Heimat in Niedersachsens Museen’ (New Home in Lower Saxony’s Museums) project, 2018–2019, in Wolfenbüttel, Delmenhorst, Braunschweig and Lüneburg
• Freelance public historian 1 May 2015 to 1 November 2016
• London SE1 4JQ, UK
• Book: *Selling America: Immigration Promotion and the Settlement of the American Continent, 1607–1914*. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Press, February 2017
• Freelance public historian, August 2005 to August 2014
• Hoboken, New Jersey, 07030, USA
• August 2013–August 2014: Guest curator, special exhibition ‘Hoboken, Ellis Island, and the Immigrant Experience, 1892–1924’, on display from 3 August 2014 to 21 December 2014 at the Hoboken Historical 
• October 2013–December 2013: Guest curator, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, University Libraries, New York University; special exhibition ‘Driving for Justice’, New York Taxi Workers Alliance Records, 1972–2011, on display from 4 December 2013 to 1 May 2014 at the Tamiment Library
• August 2013–October 2013: Recording oral histories with residents of Hoboken about their experiences on 29 October 2012 during Hurricane Sandy for the Hoboken Historical Museum
• February 2013–August 2013: Research historian, Heritage Research Centre, Missoula, MT; archival research into land use at Newtown Creek, Queens, New York City, as part of a Superfund remediation project
• September 2012–February 2013: Research historian, Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church, New York City; archival research for the rewriting of the church’s history
• March 2012–July 2012: Guest curator, special exhibition ‘I Belong, A History of Civic and Social Clubs in Hoboken’, on display from 29 July 2012 to 23 December 2012 at the Hoboken Historical Museum
• March 2011–July 2011: Research historian, American History Workshop, Brooklyn, NY. Research to develop content on slavery for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• August 2010–May 2012: Associate Guest Curator, Museum of the City of New York, Puffin Foundation Gallery. Inaugural exhibition: ‘Activist New York’. Responsibilities:

-    Conceptualisation of an 185-square-metre gallery
-    Collaboration with design firms on the design of a 14-part exhibition
-    Identifying objects, negotiating loans and cataloguing them
-    Writing and editing panel and label texts
-    Developing an interactive timeline
-    Meeting with members of the academic advisory board and the foundation’s management
-    Supervising interns
-    Project management and administration of a list of approximately 480 exhibits

• October 2009–April 2010: Oral history project, ‘Puerto Rican Migrants and the Roman Catholic Church in Hoboken, NJ, 1945–1975”, recording oral histories of the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Puerto Rican community in Hoboken between 1945 and 1975, funded by a grant from the Centre for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College (State University of New York)
• •April 2009–June 2009: Research Historian, Landmark Archaeology, Altamont, New York; conducted archival research for an archaeological firm in connection with the excavation of a pre-Civil War African-American cemetery in Newburgh, New York, with a view to applying for listing on the National Register of Historic Place
• September 2008–November 2008: Research historian, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, D.C., researching best practices of state employment agencies in supporting immigrant clients
• March 2008–January 2009: Guest curator, special exhibition ‘Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken: A City Transformed by the First World War’, on display from 7 September 2008 to 21 December 2008 at the Hoboken Historical Museum. Organisation of the accompanying programme
• April 2007–April 2011: Book: *Immigrants in Hoboken: One-Way Ticket, 1845–1985*. Charleston, SC: The History Press, June 2011
• August 2005–April 2009: Adaptation of the doctoral thesis into an academic monograph, *Americanisation in the States: Immigrant Social Welfare Policy, Citizenship, and National Identity in the United States, 1908–1929*. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, July 2009
• Research Fellow, American Institute for Research, June 2000 to August 2005
• Palo Alto, California 94306 and Washington, D.C., 20007, USA

Responsibilities:

• Project management of teams of 4–12 people on multi-year projects for clients at state and federal level in the fields of education policy and large-scale evaluation
• Subject matter expert in US history and political science
• Drafted successful proposals in response to calls for proposals (RFPs) totalling US$8.6 million
• Drafting and editing interim and final reports, as well as test questions for national and state examinations
• Designed and tested data collection tools such as surveys, interview protocols and assessments
• Collecting and analysing qualitative data
• Organising and leading training sessions
• Co-author of four academic reports

Monographs:

The Great Disappearing Act: Germans in New York City, 1880-1930. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press 2021

Selling America: Immigration Promotion and the Settlement of the American Continent, 1607-1914. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Press 2017

Immigrants in Hoboken: One-Way Ticket, 1845-1985. Charleston, SC: The History Press 2011

Americanization in the States: Immigrant Social Welfare Policy, Citizenship, and National Identity in the United States, 1908-1929. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida 2009

Einführung für Robert F. Bruner and Sean D. Carr, The Panic of 1907, Lessons Learned from the Market’s Perfect Storm. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons 2007

Articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals

“Heaven, Hell or Hoboken: HAPAG, NDL and the AEF, 1917-1919”, Beitrag zum Northern Sea Maritime Museums’ Network Workshop, “A Civil Ocean – A Naval Space: Negotiating Boundaries between War and Peace at Sea”, 2.-3. Juni 2022, online und Bremerhaven, The International Journal of Management and Humanities (IJMH), erscheint Sommer 2026

„Der Wandel der Wirtschaftlichkeit des transatlantischen Passagiertransports in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts”, Beitrag zum Handbuch Maritime Wirtschaft. De Gruyter Sommer 2026

„You don’t build your own boat: how multinational corporations decide where and how we migrate”, Beitrag zu Irish Historical Studies. Irish Historical Society / Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies Juni 2026

„Emil L. Boas” und „Wilhelm J.D. Keuffel”. Beiträge zum Immigrant Entrepreneurship: The German-American Business Biography, 1720 to the Present. Hartmut Berghoff and Uwej Spiekermann (Hg). Santa Barbara, CA and Washington, D.C.: German Historical Institute/ABC Clio 2014 www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php und www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php

„Emanuel Celler and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965”. Beitrag zum The Making of Modern Immigration: An Encyclopedia of People and Ideas. Patrick Hayes (Hg). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Press 2012

Articles in academic journals without peer review

„Heaven, Hell or Hoboken, 1914-1919”, World War One Illustrated, World War One Historical Association. Sommer 2026, No. 28, S. 4-12.

„’Not one young woman in the steerage escaped attack’: sexual harassment and assault in the steamship era, 1870-1914”, AEMI Journal, Volume 23, 2026, S. 32-47. Beitrag zur der 35. Association of European Migration Institutions Konferenz, 9. Oktober 2025, Ruhr Museum, Essen

„Cautionary Lessons from the Americanization movement of the early 20th century”. AEMI Journal, Volume 15-16 (2017/18). Beitrag zur 26. Association of European Migration Institutions (AEMI) Konferenz in Santiago de Compostela, Spanien, 2016, „European Migrant Diasporas and Cultural Identities” und 27. AEMI Konferenz in Husum, Deutschland, 2017, „ ‘At Home or Alienated’ – Migrants and Receiving Countries between Integration and Parallel Society, between ‘Culture of Welcome’ and Xenophobia”

„Hoboken During World War One“, The United States World War One Centennial Commission, 15. Dezember 2016: www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/nj-wwi-stories/1665-hoboken.html

„Dillingham Commission”, „colonial and Early Republic immigration sentiment”, „English Only – groups”, and „English Only movement – history of”. Beitrag zum Anti-Immigration in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Kathleen R. Arnold (Hg). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio Press 2011

„Americanizing New Immigrants”. Beitrag zum A History of the U.S. Political System Ideas, Interests, and Institutions. Richard A. Harris and Daniel J. Tichenor (Hg). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio Press 2009