Margery Sly, director of special collections at Temple University, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.
Sly earned a master of arts in American history and a master of library science from Case Western Reserve University in 1981. One supporter noted that Sly made a “commitment to archives as her profession at a time when the majority of archivists still received on-the-job training.”
Throughout her career, Sly has worked with the papers of government officials, senatorial records, women’s history, institutional archives and manuscript collections, and religious archives, and has worked at the National Archives, Western Historical Manuscripts Collection at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Smith College, the Presbyterian Historical Society, and now Temple University's Special Collections Research Center.
More impressive than her work history, Sly’s service to the profession is exemplary. New England Archivists, Midwest Archives Conference, Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Society of Georgia Archivists, and Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries have all benefitted from Sly’s energetic leadership. A Certified Archivist, Sly is the president-elect of the Academy of Certified Archivists. Sly also has enriched SAA; she has been an active member for thirty years, serving multiple leadership positions in SAA, most recently on the Council where she was elected to the Executive Committee and liaison to the Standards Committee; as a member of the Publications Board; and on the SAA Foundation Board of Directors.
One recommender wrote: “Deeply versed in archives, history and literature, Margery is one of the rare individuals who can work with anyone. She fearlessly takes on even the most volatile situations and expertly diffuses them with humor and good sense.”
Sly generously shares all she has learned, through her years of teaching seminars and workshops and her participation as an instructor/mentor for the rigorous internships that are part of all archival studies programs.