Annual Meeting Endorsed Sessions

This page contains information about and, when available, materials from sessions endorsed by the Archivists and Archives Roundtable at SAA Annual Meetings

2013: New Orleans

Session 406—Journeys of Reconciliation: Institutions Studying Their Relationships to Slavery

Jennifer Betts, Brown University; Amy Schindler, The College of William and Mary; Donnelly Watson, University of Alabama

During the last decade, several American universities have undertaken formal efforts to document and study their relationships with slavery and racial discrimination. Archival material, the work of archivists, and the creation of new material for university archives have played prominent roles in university projects, which include courses, increased community outreach, public apologies, publications, and research. These multifaceted projects continue to explore the historical and moral questions raised for the institutions.

Session Materials

Jennifer Betts, "Rhode Island Slavery and the University"
Slides

Amy Schindler, "From the Archives to the Community: William & Mary's Lemon Project"
Paper

Session 506—Enhancing Diversity Through Discussion: Adapting the ARL Leadership Symposium Experience

Aaisha Haykal, Chicago State University; Eugenia Kim; Mark A. Puente, Association of Research Libraries

Each year, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) holds a Leadership Symposium for MLIS students to discuss the meaning of diversity in information environments. This special focus session reproduces that experience through small and large group discussions on such topics as redefining the meaning of "diversity" and student outreach through diversity initiatives. Participants expect to develop strategies for fostering diversity within archival environments, design mentorship models, and form a peer network for future collaborations.

Session Materials 

Slides

Follow-up Notes

2012: San Diego

Session 409—Asian and Pacific Islanders Creating Diverse and Collaborative Community Archival Methods

Florante Peter Ibanez, Loyola Law School; Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada, Palos Verdes Library District; Ellen-Rae Cachola, University of California, Los Angeles; Elnora Kelly Tayag, California State University, Channel Islands; Anne J. Gilliland, University of California Los Angeles

This roundtable discussion introduces attendees to the emerging movement within the Asian and Pacific Islander communities to preserve our collective memory and decolonize our histories. Just as conventional archival practices have marginalized Asian/Pacific Islander American experiences as well as other histories of peoples of color, so internally have our own understandings of community history and culture been framed by what others have written and archived about us. How can we collectively re-affirm and preserve our own memories beyond traditional professional record practices to facilitate renewed understanding of our collective past, undistorted by others myopic visions? Join this lively discussion of collecting Asian Pacific Islander America beyond borders, in our own voices, and into the future.

Session Materials

Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada, "Hawaiians in Los Angeles"
Slides | Paper

2011: Chicago

Session 407—Faces of Diversity: Diasporic Archives and Archivists in the New Millenium

Marisol Ramos, University of Connecticut; Amalia Skarlatou Levi, University of Maryland; Carolina A. Villarroel, University of Houston; Ann M. Massmann, University of New Mexico

Diasporic groups are leaving their marks in the United States through their community centers and archives or by joining the archives community as archivists. In the process, they are changing the practice of archives itself. The speakers address the impact of minority archivists and diasporac collections on our profession and challenge the concept of what Diasporas are in the archival context.

Session 604—Fostering a Diverse Profession: Mentoring and Internship Programs

Kerrie Cotten Williams, Auburn Avenue Research Library; Wesley J. Chenault, Virginia Commenwealth University; Erika B. Castano, University of Arizona; Krystal Appiah; Steven D. Booth, National Archives and Records Administration

The panelists describe mentoring and internship programs at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History (Atlanta), Simmons College (Boston), and the Special Collections Department at the University of Arizona. This group of professional archivists and a graduate student intern discuss how these internship programs intersect with the Society of American Archivists' Strategic Priorities, which include promoting and fostering diversity within the profession.

2007: Chicago

Session 103: A Special Brew: New Perspectives From the National Archives on Civil Rights, Race Riots, and Brown vs Board of Education

Walter B. Hill, Jr., National Archives and Records Administration; Lisha Penn, National Archives and Records Administration; Cynara Robinson, National Archives and Records Administration; Trichita Chestnut, National Archives and Records Administration

What role did the federal government play in the civil rights movement? This session focuses on federal records relating to the major court cases that led to the Brown vs Board of Education decision, investigations into voting rights abuses, the outbreak of race riots from 1964 to 1974, and the FBI and Justice Department investigations into the murders of Emmitt Till and James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

Session 301: Outreach to Those Less Served

James F. Cartwright, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Helen Wong Smith, University of Hawaii at Hilo; Alex Lorch, Virginia Commonwealth University; Kären M. Mason, University of Iowa; C. Raymond LeFever, New York State Archives

The speakers describe three current outreach programs directed to underserved communities: One that teaches basic care of treasured family, personal, and cultural records to people who have had no training but are caring for records; a second that documents efforts to preserve and make accessible the records of the Queer community of Richmond and central Virginia; and a third that addresses the Mujeres Latinas Project at the University of Iowa.

AttachmentSize
Jennifer Betts, "Rhode Island Slavery and the University" (slides) New Orleans, 2013765.85 KB
Aaisha Haykal, Eugenia Kim and Mark A. Puente, "Enhancing Diversity Through Discussion: Adapting the ARL Leadership Symposium Experience" (slides) New Orleans, 2013146.77 KB
Aaisha Haykal, Eugenia Kim and Mark A. Puente, "Enhancing Diversity Through Discussion: Adapting the ARL Leadership Symposium Experience" (follow up notes) New Orleans, 2013125.05 KB
Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, "Hawaiians in Los Angeles" (slides) San Diego, 20121.05 MB
Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, "Hawaiians in Los Angeles" (full paper) San Diego, 201222.85 KB