SAA Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

The Society of American Archivists is committed to ensuring the diversity of its membership and leaders, the profession, and the archival record.

SAA has made this core organizational value an integral part of its various cornerstone documents:

SAA promotes the value and diversity of archives and archivists. We are the preeminent source of professional resources and the principal communication hub for American archivists. — SAA Mission Statement, Strategic Plan 2014-2018

As a professional association that benefits from the participation of people from all backgrounds, the Society of American Archivists strives to ensure that its membership, the holdings that archivists acquire and manage, and the users whom archivists serve reflect the evolving diversity of society. — SAA Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

Because discrimination and unequal treatment are inimical to the Society's goals, SAA hereby declares that discrimination on the grounds of age, color, creed, disability, family relationship, gender identity/expression, individual life style, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status is prohibited within the Society. SAA will vigorously pursue a policy of non-discrimination and equal opportunity through its programs, activities, services, operations, employment, and business contracts. — Equal Opportunity/Nondiscrimination Policy

Diversity: Archivists collectively seek to document and preserve the record of the broadest possible range of individuals, socio-economic groups, governance, and corporate entities in society. Archivists embrace the importance of identifying, preserving, and working with communities to actively document those whose voices have been overlooked or marginalized. They seek to build connections to under-documented communities to support: acquisition and preservation of sources relating to these communities’ activities, encouragement of community members’ use of archival research sources, and/or formation of community-based archives. Archivists accept and encourage a diversity of viewpoints on social, political, and intellectual issues, as represented both in archival records and among members of the profession. They actively work to achieve a diversified and representative membership in the profession. — SAA Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics

In 2014, the SAA Council created and charged the Council Working Group on Diversity and Inclusion to promote current initiatives and encourage further efforts to increase diversity and inclusion within SAA, the profession, and the historical record. The working group continues to identify current and future activities and initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion in all aspects of SAA and the profession, and it provides recommendations for further steps forward.

To understand the scope of SAA's activities and initiatives regarding diversity and inclusion, please browse the following compilation: 

SAA Groups Engaged in Some Aspect(s) of Diversity/Inclusion:

• Diversity Committee
• Cultural Heritage Working Group
• Archives and Archivists of Color Roundtable
• International Archival Affairs Roundtable
• Issues and Advocacy Roundtable 
• Latin American and Caribbean Cultural Heritage Archives Roundtable
• Lesbian and Gay Archives Roundtable
• Native American Archives Roundtable
• Students and New Archives Professionals Roundtable
• Women Archivists Roundtable
• Women’s Collections Roundtable
• Mosaic Program Advisory Group and Mosaic Program Selection Committee
• Mosaic Scholarship Subcommittee of the Awards Committee
• Diversity Award Subcommittee of the Awards Committee
• Harold T. Pinkett Travel Award Subcommittee of the Awards Committee

SAA Group Actions and Initiatives

• Diversity Committee / Native American Archives Roundtable: Native American Protocols Forum Final Report (January 2012)
• Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable Diversity Speaker Survey (2012)² 
• Diversity in Archives and Records Management Survey (December 2008)³
• Task Force on Diversity Final Report (February 1999)

Resources

• Case Studies on Diversifying the Archival Profession (January 2016)
• Through the Archival Looking Glass: A Reader on Diversity and Inclusion (Caldera and Neal, editors, SAA, 2014)

SAA Council Discussions and Actions

• SAA Council Refines Strategic Plan, Focuses on Diversity and Cultural Competency (November 2014)
• A Few Words on Diversity (Off the Record blog post by Danna Bell, May 2014))
• Poll: What Does Diversifying the Archival Record Mean to You? (2013)¹
• SAA Council Adopts Diversity Statement, Best Practices for Working with Researchers/Archives Employees with Disabilities (August 2010)
• Discussion: Defining Diversity (February 2010)
• Resolution on SAA’s Equal Opportunity/Nondiscrimination Policy (February 2009)
• SAA Resolution on Diversity (August 2002)

We want to hear from you! Let us know what efforts your group is taking to encourage diversity and inclusion within SAA, the archives profession, and the historical record by emailing us at saahq@archivists.org. 

¹ Conducted prior to the November 2013 Council meeting to inform the Strategic Planning session.

² Conducted in 2012; results not specifically reported to the Council.

³  Conducted by the Joint Working Group on Archives and Records Management, a group formed by the Archives Management and Records Management roundtables “in direct response … to the call for a diversity initiative by the SAA Council and was prompted by Elizabeth Adkins’ presidential address to SAA in 2007. Our Working Group Charge is:  To contact and network with persons with physical impairments in the archives and records management profession (archivists, records managers, and researchers/ patrons), identify and study the challenges for them in same, and develop tools to assist them in overcoming these challenges.” See also http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/archmgmt/joint-working-group_physical-disability-resources_august-2009.pdf.