This is the newest post in our “So You Wanna Be An Archivist,” series, where archivists and other information professionals describe their path to the profession. In this article, COPA member Angie Piccolo interviews Nadia Westenburg about their path to becoming the Park Archivist for Yosemite National Park.
Q: Please describe your current position
Nadia Westenburg: I am the Park Archivist for Yosemite National Park. Our collection is one of the largest in the National Park Service...
https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/index.html
Reviewed by Bryan Mathison, Research Associate II, National Strategic Planning & Analysis Research Center, Mississippi State University [PDF Full Text]
Background
As a research associate, I have ample opportunity to seek out and utilize primary sources. As a doctoral student, I fully appreciate how important it is to have access to primary source materials because they are the backbone of research. I recently came across the University of...
This post is part of the Intergenerational Conversations series.
Review of James B. Rhoads, “One Man’s Hopes for His Society, His Profession, His Country,” American Archivist 39, no. 1 (1976): 5–13, https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.39.1.050472×235848660.
By Genevieve Preston, Archivist, San Bernardino County Historical Archives (San Bernardino, California) [PDF Full Text] | [PDF Article + Full Text]
On October 2, 1975, James B. Rhoads gave his presidential address at the 39th...
In this episode, cohosts Camila Zorrilla Tessler and Conor Casey speak with historians Krista McCracken and Skylee-Storm Hogan-Stacey about Decolonial Archival Futures, their new book that challenges non-Indigenous practitioners to think consciously about the histories we tell. Listen for a discussion about rethinking structures of archival provenance and ownership, community relationship building, and decentering the settler perspective in archives.
Read the transcript.
Episode...
The Committee on Public Awareness (COPA) is thrilled to sponsor this incredible event again! The virtual workshop is led by Micaela Blei, a two-time Moth GrandSLAM winner with a PhD in narrative education. You’ll learn:
● What makes a story work;
● The connections among narrative performance, research, and teaching;
● How to brainstorm and craft stories of your own.
After completing this workshop, budding storytellers and bards will have the opportunity to submit their story for...
The New Mexico State Records and Archives in Sante Fe, New Mexico is coordinating an Archives Bizarre at House of Eternal Return / Meow Wolf on October 28 from 4p-7p (MT).
An Archives “Bizarre” is an opportunity to display archival materials from multiple institutions in one place – specifically those items that are truly unique, kooky, artistic, or—yes—just plain weird.
Visit with archivists displaying items held in the:
State Archives of New Mexico
University of New Mexico (...
The Archives of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, TX is offering in person and virtual opportunities to engage with the Archives throughout the month of October.
SOCIAL MEDIA | Instagram: SRSU Library | Twitter: SRSU Library
Throughout the month of October, Archives of the Big Bend will be highlighting various collections and collections work on the Library’s social media accounts. Specific events include:
October 10: Electronic Records Day (#ERecsDay)...
The JM Family Enterprises Archives in Deerfield Beach, FL is hosting four events throughout the month of October offering prizes and giveaways. Events will also feature an interactive exhibit and vintage virtual backgrounds pulled from the archive.
Events Schedule:
Wednesday, October 9, 11a-130p ET
Tuesday, October 15, 11a-130p ET
Wednesday, October 23, 11a-130p ET
Thursday, October 31, 11a-130p ET
If you have any questions, please contact michael.zaidman@jmfamily....
https://inclusivehistorian.com
Reviewed by Mattie Clear, Instruction and Outreach Archivist and Assistant Professor, Washington and Lee University Library Special Collections and Archives, Lexington, VA [PDF Full Text]
Figure 1. Screenshot of the homepage of The Inclusive Historian’s Handbook, https://inclusivehistorian.com/
The Inclusive Historian’s Handbook is a resource sponsored by both the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) and the National Council on...
The Peters Township Public Library (PTPL) Archives in McMurray, Pennsylvania is offering exciting Archives games and events Tuesday, October 1 – Saturday, October 12.
October 1-12: Archival games and displays in the lobby of the library.
Archives Price is Right: Match the historic product or service with its price.
Archives I Spy : I Spy sheet using historic images from the collection
Identify the Decade: Guess the decade of a variety of historic photos
Cursive Writing...
Mochocki, Michal, ed. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. 127 pp. ISBN 9781032411118; eBook ISBN 9781003356318.
Reviewed by Cheryl Oestreicher, Professor/Head, Special Collections and Archives, Boise State University [PDF Full Text]
When opportunities arise, I incorporate board games into class and patron visits. I especially like to show games to students learning about primary sources. As artifacts, games help expand the scope of what students...
This series celebrates all the great information that exists in ArchivesAWARE!
This post originally published on December 12, 2016, was authored by guest contributor Meredith E. Torre, Archivist at the Atlanta Housing Authority. It describes using a Pokémon scavenger hunt to celebrate American Archives month.
Photo provided by Rachel Thomas.
To celebrate October’s Archives month, the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) Archives recently launched a historically themed Pokémon scavenger...
SAA Marketing and Communications Specialist, Julia Pillard, shares how we can all celebrate #AskAnArchivistDay on October 16th.
Coming as I do from an academic background, I have long appreciated the value of archives. I can recall touring the archives at Norlin Library at the University of Colorado in Boulder during my graduate degree and being so impressed by the extensive knowledge of the archivists giving us the tour. From my experience, I know exactly how amazing archives can be and...
This post is part of the Intergenerational Conversations series.
Review of Robert H. Bahmer, “The Management of Archival Institutions,” American Archivist 26, no. 1 (January 1, 1963): 3–10, https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.26.1.8hh36103506q5305.
By Caitlin Birch, Director of Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections, James Madison University Libraries [PDF Full Text] | [PDF Article + Full Text]
On October 1, 1962, Dr. Robert H. Bahmer delivered his presidential address at the...
In this series, we hope to share information and resources for new professionals or those folks in need of change. First up, an interview with Meredith Lowe, the creator of Archives Gig, a website devoted to sharing job postings for archives around the globe. At ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2024, Archives Gig and INALJ (I Need a Library Job) received the Exemplary Service Award from SAA.
What inspired you to start Archives Gig? When did you start it?
I started Archives Gig in 2010, when I was...
This is the newest post in our There’s an Archivist for That! series, which features examples of archivists working in places you might not expect. In this article, COPA member Claudia Willett interviews Chloe Pfendler and Chris Doan about their jobs as Archivists for the Silicon Valley Archives (SVA) at Stanford University.
How did you get your gig?
In 2022, through the Hohbach Program Endowment, we were both hired to process the historical records and materials documenting the...
By Verne Harris. New York: Routledge, 2021. 166 pp. Softcover ISBN 9780367681142, Hardcover ISBN 9780367361075, eBook ISBN 9780429343827.
Reviewed by Jenifer Monger, Institute Archivist, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute [PDF Full Text]
As someone who has read Verne Harris’s numerous publications and watched him professionally from the sidelines (always in awe), I jumped at the opportunity to review his latest book, Ghosts of Archive: Deconstructive Intersectionality and Praxis. This...
As we approach the date of Archives*Records 2024, several tours offered by the Host Committee are still accepting sign-ups. Click here to sign up for he tours that are still available, or join a waitlist.
Here are the tours that are still available as of Tuesday, August 6th:
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives
Studio Gang
Chicago Maritime Museum
Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site
Union League Club, 10:00 AM tour
Rosenthal Archives of the Chicago Symphony...
Founded in 1981, Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, seeks to collect, preserve, and make accessible the history and culture of LGBTQ+ communities in Chicago and the Midwest in order to advance the larger goal of achieving justice and equality. Located in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, it houses over 14,000 volumes, 800 periodical titles, and 100 archival collections. Open to everyone, Gerber/Hart is dedicated to promoting research, learning, exploration, and discovery in a safe...
Welcome to the final update of our top 10 Chicago neighborhoods to visit! Just remember, all the neighborhoods in Chicago have wonderful things to share with visitors and are worth taking time to see. This list is just one Chicago local’s top ten picks. The order in this last post is pretty interchangeable, so ask me again tomorrow and the order might be different! Some neighborhoods worth mentioning that did not end up making it onto the list include Lincoln Square, Jefferson Park, Roger...
The Art Institute of Chicago
In addition to the repository tours for this year’s conference, Chicago boasts numerous world-class museums, all easily accessible from the conference hotel.
Named one of TripAdvisor’s “Best of the Best” US attractions of 2024, the Art Institute of Chicago houses works in every medium from across places, cultures, and time. The museum is dedicated to the investigation, innovation, education, and dialogue of more than 260,...
This is the newest post in our There’s an Archivist for That! series, which features examples of archivists working in places you might not expect. In this article, COPA member Claudia Willett interviews Rebekah Valentine about her job as Lead Archivist for Senator Dianne Feinstein’s papers at Stanford University .
How did you get your gig?
Rebekah in Senator Feinstein’s Capitol Hill office chair
My interest in congressional papers began with my summer internship with...
The Chicago Maritime Museum offers visitors a chronological walk through the eras of French fur traders, sail and steam-powered vessels, modern commercial Great Lakes frigates, recreational sailing, and the Ralph and Rita Frese Canoe Collection. Two permanent exhibits, opened in May, focus on the Lady Elgin, the deadliest disaster on the open waters of the Great Lakes, and on Captain Bill Pinkney, the first Black sailor to solo-circumnavigate the globe around the five Great Capes.
Earlier...
Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site tells the story of America’s first planned model industrial community, the sleeping car magnate who created it, and the workers who lived there. The park is significant for its influence on railroad transportation, industrial innovation, urban planning and design, and the American labor and civil rights movements, including the 1894 Pullman Strike and Boycott.
To sign up or to be added to waitlist, click here.
Date and time of the...
We are now at the part of this local’s top ten neighborhoods when things start to get interchangeable. Chicago is home to so many amazing locales that it is difficult to choose one over the other. Keep in mind as you browse this list that each neighborhood has its own appeal, and that they are all worth visiting!
Photograph from Block Club Chicago.
4. Pilsen – Home to many local artists and galleries, Pilsen is so well known for its art scene that there is even a strip of...
The Union League Club of Chicago (ULCC) was founded in 1879. It traces its origin to the Union League of America (ULA), a Civil War–era organization formed to support Abraham Lincoln and to help preserve the Union. The tour is of the ULCC archives that document members’ contributions to community, country, and culture.
To sign up or to be added to waitlist, click here.
Date/Time of the Tour: Wednesday, August 14, 10:00 AM – FULLWednesday, August 14, 1:00 PM
Approximate Duration:...
Located in Chicago’s Prairie Avenue district, Glessner House is a cultural center and museum, showcasing revolutionary design and celebrating the cultural arts from the late 1800s to the present day. Designed by the legendary American architect Henry Hobson Richardson, this architectural marvel was completed in 1887 and continues to be a renowned treasure in the city of Chicago. John Jacob Glessner, Frances Macbeth Glessner, and their two children, George and Frances, called Glessner House home...
Article originally published in the June/July 2024 issue of Archival Outlook.
Pullman District 112th Street view ca. 1890. Courtesy of Historic Pullman Foundation.
As we inch closer to the start of the Society of American Archivist’s 88th annual meeting in Chicago, I encourage you to participate in one of the many pre-conference tours coordinated by the Local Arrangements Committee. Beginning Tuesday, August 13 through Wednesday, August 14, you can tour a number of repositories...
Wait . . . Chicago has beaches? Yes! The Windy City is home to miles and miles of sandy shoreline, where you can swim, bike, kayak, boat, jet ski, paddle board, sip cocktails, and more. Miles of scenic lakefront include numerous public parks and gardens, an eighteen-mile trail, and more than two dozen beaches that are free and open to the public.
One of Chicago’s most popular, North Avenue Beach boasts spacious sands, cool bars, and convenient location near the nearby Lincoln Park Zoo....
The Grant Park Music Festival has been a Chicago tradition for ninety years and is the nation’s only free, summerlong outdoor series dedicated to classical music. And the finale of this year’s festival on August 16 and 17 is destined to be one for the history books. Uruguayan conductor Carlos Kalmar has served as music director since 2000, and to celebrate the conclusion of his twenty-fifth and final season, he has chosen one of the most spectacular works in the repertoire, Gustav Mahler...
Chicago is home to 200 neighborhoods and 77 community areas. Our city is the third largest city in America! While you are in town, why not take the opportunity to ride the L out of the Loop and see a part of the city you haven’t been to before?
Here are this Chicago local’s neighborhood rankings. Stay tuned to see the neighborhoods ranked 1-7!
8. West Loop – If you are looking for great places to eat, look no further than West Loop, home of Restaurant Row. With a...
by Beth Bruins
Downtown Chicago boasts a spectacular array of restaurants, and dozens are within walking distance of the conference hotel. A small sampling is below.
Atwood (1 W. Washington St.) – Boasting American fare, the Atwood also is an excellent place to watch the crowds on State Street.
Buddy Guy’s Legends (700 S. Wabash Ave.) – For the best soul food and blues seven nights a week, head to this iconic restaurant and bar.
Cafécito (26 E. Congress Pkwy. /...
In this episode, co-hosts Chris Burns and Camila Zorrilla Tessler speak with Maryna Paliienko, a Ukrainian historian, archivist, and Fulbright Scholar conducting research at New York University on the topic “Archives in the Time of War and Emergency: Problems of the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Usage (from the Experience of the United States and Ukraine).” Listen to learn more about Dr. Paliienko’s work, the crucial role that archives play in documenting shared history and memory during...
Chicago’s festivals highlight what makes our city great, and during the month of August, the season is at its height. The two weekends that bookend this year’s annual meeting are full of events throughout the city’s diverse neighborhoods and suburbs, celebrating Chicago’s food, music, culture, art, and history.
August 9-11 – Retro on Roscoe Live music will play oldies and throwbacks along with popular hits amidst the beautiful tree-lined streets of Roscoe Village,...
Sign up here.
The Brookfield Genealogy Club is giving a talk at the Brookfield Library for their Genealogy Club about F. D. Cossitt, a major slaveholder in Tennessee who came north during the Civil War and eventually founded La Grange. The talk will be at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 13, at Brookfield Library, 3541 Park Avenue in Brookfield.
Cossitt was a merchant in La Grange, Tennessee, starting in the 1830s, and by 1860 had four plantations which were worked by 127 slaves. From the...
The Chicago History Museum has a collection of over 23 million objects all about the city of Chicago’s rich history. Founded in 1856, the museum strives to create a space of scholarship, learning, inspiration, and civic engagement with Chicago’s past.
To sign up or to be added to waitlist, click here.
Date and time of the tour: Tuesday, August 13, 2:00 PM – FULLPlease arrive at 1:45 PM for the 2:00 PM tour
Approximate Duration: 75 Minutes
Capacity: 15 people...
Founded by Jeanne Gang in 1997, Studio Gang is an architecture and urban design practice headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York, San Francisco, and Paris. We are excited to welcome SAA conference attendees for a tour of the Studio’s Visible Archive, a new space in our Chicago office, dedicated to the conservation and display of our diverse collections of design records. (Please note: no photography except when given permission.)
To sign up or to be added to waitlist, click here...
Visit one of the largest public library buildings in the world, see highlights from our Special Collections Unit at Harold Washington Library, and learn how we have approached different archival and preservation challenges.
To sign up or to be added to waitlist, click here.
Date and time of tour: Wednesday, August 14, 1:00 PM – FULL
Approximate Duration: 90 minutes
Additional questions, please contact: Beth Bruins | Librarian | bbruins@chipublib.org
Capacity: 25 people...
The circulation desk at the UIC Library of Health Sciences, from https://library.uic.edu/
Join Megan Keller Young, Special Collections Librarian, University of Illinois Chicago’s Health Sciences Library, and Nathalie Wheaton, Archivist, RUSH University Medical Center Archives, for tours of their health-related collections in the heart of the Illinois Medical District. Attendees will view rare books and archival collections documenting the medical and health history of the Chicago area...
Founded in 1887, the Newberry Library is one of Chicago’s most historic cultural institutions. Come have an introduction to the Newberry’s collections, view exhibitions such as Indigenous Chicago and Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism, and enjoy an overall orientation of this historic institution.
To sign up or to be added to waitlist, click here.
Date and time of tour: Wednesday, August 14, 10:00 AM – FULL
Approximate duration: 1 hour
Capacity: 15 people...
Klaus Mäkelä leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall (Todd Rosenberg Photography)
Formed in 1990 during the CSO’s centennial season, the Samuel R. and Marie Louise Rosenthal Archives of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association house an extensive collection of audio-visual materials, programs, photographs, newspaper clippings, and administrative records documenting the activities of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Civic Orchestra, and Orchestra Hall...
The largest African American history and literature collection in the Midwest, the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature documents the Black experience with a strong focus on Chicago. Join staff for a tour of the public spaces, staff spaces (stacks) and our current exhibit “Harsh and Woodson: Curators of Black History.”
To sign up or to be added to waitlist, click here.
Date and time of the tour: Wednesday, August 14, 2:00 PM...
