SAA has many opportunities for members to get involved in advocating for archives and archivists. Choose a pathway that works for you, or contact saahq@archivists.org if you need further help finding your way.

Individual Advocacy

Celebrate American Archives Month by Advocating for Archives

Throughout the year we need your help in reaching out to Congress—on Capitol Hill and in your home district—to tell the important story of how archives make a difference. 

Each October, you can celebrate American Archives Month by establishing or deepening a relationship with your elected officials on archives topics! Get started now: For tips on making a district visit (or a Hill visit, if you’ll be in Washington, DC) or inviting your Representative or Senators to an event, see our Advocacy Guide.

Resources to Prepare for Advocacy Meetings

No matter what activity you get involved in, you must prepare before your meeting! As you prepare to speak with your Member of Congress or congressional staff person during a district visit this spring, take advantage of the following resources: 

• A free webcast (Archival Advocacy at Home) on preparing and messaging, which is offered on-demand for free via SAA's webcast catalog.

• The Advocacy Guide, which includes a section on district visits and helpful templates to make reaching out easier.

• This handy site to identify your Members of Congress and their contact information. 

• A list of Members of Congress who serve on key appropriations and oversight committees and subcommittees. Use the search bar in the top right to search for your Member of Congress to see if they are on any key committees or subcommittees.

• Issue briefs on Federal Funding Programs for Archives and Historical Records and Support for NARA and NHPRC. (Plus statistics from NHPRC about the difference between requested funds and grants awarded for Archival Records and Professional Development.

• The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) Archives are Essential brochure, including instructions for printing

• The National Humanities Alliance's Humanities Policy Priorities.

Group Advocacy

Not ready to go it alone? No problem! SAA provides opportunities to advocate for archives in community with fellow archivists and allies.

Participate in National Humanities Day

Each spring, members of Congress debate the President's proposed budget. Budget season presents a great opportunity to advocate for archives. Most often, the budget attempts to cut many federal programs that are vital to archives, including the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and it’s up to us to let our elected officials know how these proposed cuts would affect us. Sometimes, we find ourselves in the favorable position of supporting much-needed proposed increases and stressing the need to continue to champion archives funding in the future.

SAA partners with the National Humanities Alliance to advocate for humanities funding including NARA and the NHPRC each March. NHA offers training, guidance, and holds a one-day workshop called National Advocacy Day to prepare you for the job. We share information on In the Loop each year when organizing begins, but you can also contact  saahq@archivists.org to express interest any time of the year and ensure you receive a personal communication when it’s time to advocate.

Participate in Archives on the Hill

SAA collaborates to sponsor “Archives on the Hill” Days in years that SAA’s annual Archives*Records meeting is held in Washington, DC. Together, the Council of State Archivists (CoSA), the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA), and the Regional Archival Associations Consortium (RAAC) on an ongoing basis via our Joint Working Group on Issues and Awareness. Through this collaborative group, we sponsored our most recent “Archives on the Hill” on July 25, 2023 during the Joint Annual Meeting. Archives on the Hill brought together more than 40 enthusiastic archivists and records managers representing 20 states who visited a total of 55 different legislative offices to advocate on behalf of archives and archivists.

See coverage of SAA’s past Archives on the Hill activities in Archival Outlook:

• 2018 Archives on the Hill

• 2023 Archives on the Hill

Creating and Measuring Impact

After your visit or event, communicate about your experiences! This will inspire others to act, creating deeper impact. Communicating also helps SAA measure the impact of these interactions. Some steps that you can take to record and amplify impact include:

• Post about it on your favorite social media platform, using the tag #ArchivesAdvocate and including SAA in the post. SAA is active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. See the handles in the widgets at the bottom of this page to tag SAA into your post, and learn more about SAA’s social media presence here.

• Follow up with your elected official to thank them and summarize what you talked about so they are more likely to remember your conversation.

• Journal or fill out a debrief form to increase your own understanding of the conversation and its impacts.

• Help us measure impact - let SAA know when you take action by filling out a brief form! See https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ArchivalAdvocacyatHome. 

The Advocacy Guide includes many tips for follow-up, including a post-visit report template.