Archival Innovator Award: Opioid Industry Documents Archive

The UCSF-JHU Opioid Industry Documents Archive (OIDA), a digital archives of litigation documents relating to the opioid epidemic, is the 2023 recipient of the Archival Innovator Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The Archival Innovator Award recognizes an archivist, a group of archivists, a repository, or an organization that demonstrates the greatest overall current impact on the profession or their communities.

An expansive collaboration between libraries and health programs at the University of California, San Francisco and Johns Hopkins University, OIDA is a key resource that advances the public’s understanding of the causes of the opioid epidemic to prevent future harm. From managing sensitive information to facilitating ease of research and connecting the collection with users, OIDA’s development has continually showcased innovative thinking and practice. The team’s impressive management of data privacy for more than 3.1 million documents holding personally identifiable information and protected health information serves as a model for other public health archives. OIDA’s advanced research tools allow users to efficiently search and track specialized data. With the assistance of seed grants, OIDA has increased the involvement of university faculty in the project and addressed challenges like creating robust metadata and redaction protocols through evolving automated processes.

The success of OIDA’s development is due in part to the collection’s wide engagement outside of academia. The OIDA project team and their national advisory committee represent a range of professions, including archivists, activists, attorneys, writers, educators, medical professionals, historians, computer scientists, and anthropologists. This network of professionals, led by Kate Tasker, UCSF Industry Documents Library managing archivist, and Caleb Alexander, professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and founding director of its Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness, has informed the sustainability of the archives and its user experience. The OIDA team has actively promoted the archives to journalists, policymakers, community members, and other stakeholders, and it has supported presentations, guest lectures, training sessions, labs, practicum experience, and independent research projects for more than 1,700 students, faculty, and researchers since its launch in March 2021. The SAA Awards Committee commended the repository’s team for “developing exceptional tools and practices that will have long-term benefits to the archival profession.”

“The OIDA team thanks all those who have worked so hard to support document disclosure in opioid litigation, including individuals and families impacted by the opioid crisis, community organizations, public health professionals, attorneys and legal staff, historians, and many other advocates,” Tasker said. “We are proud for our work on OIDA to be recognized by fellow archivists who know the value of archives as sources for truth. OIDA builds on the strong foundation of the UCSF Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library, and we look forward to continuing to innovate as we work to make these critically important documents accessible to the public.”

SAA’s Archival Innovator Award was established in 2012. Previous recipients include Laura Gottlieb and Robbie Terman of the Center for Michigan Jewish History and the Community-Driven Archives at Arizona State University Library.

Brenda S. Banks Travel Award: Marisa Ramirez

Marisa Ramirez, processing archivist at the William H. Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount University, is the 2023 recipient of the Brenda S. Banks Travel Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award, which recognizes individuals of color who are employed in archives and show interest in becoming active members of SAA, provides attendance to the 2023 Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and SAA, as well as a complimentary one-year membership in SAA.

Ramirez holds a master of library science and graduate certificates in archival management and digital content management from the University of North Texas. As a processing archivist, her primary interests include responsible and reparative archival description that incorporates and honors historically marginalized groups in archival collections. She recently co-presented the sessions “Working Together to Mentor BIPOC Archivists” at the 2022 Society of California Archivists conference and “Documenting the Forces of Social Justice: Communities and Archives” at the 2021 CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice Symposium. Additionally, Ramirez was a part of two teams that were awarded an Inclusive Excellence Grant in 2017–2018 and again in 2022–2023 from Loyola Marymount University for their work in collection assessment through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens and library-wide de-escalation training.

Ramirez participated in the inaugural SAA BIPOC mentoring cohort and currently serves as a steering committee member for the SAA Archivists and Archives of Color Section. In her personal essay, Ramirez states: “Knowing that others like me are capable of leadership and innovation is of the utmost importance for my professional development.” The SAA Awards Committee was impressed by Ramirez’s strong commitment to SAA and ongoing development as a leader in the profession.

Council Exemplary Service Award: Teaching with Primary Sources Collective

Society of American Archivists
Council Exemplary Service Award
Honoring

TEACHING WITH PRIMARY SOURCES COLLECTIVE

WHEREAS the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Collective has made archives and other primary sources more accessible by providing a space for archival workers and those in allied fields to share best practices and tools for engaging the public in meaningful instruction methods;

WHEREAS the TPS Collective has met the increasing need for archives and other institutions to create active learning opportunities with primary sources for a wide range of audiences, including K-12 students and teachers, undergraduates, and members of the general public;

WHEREAS the TPS Collective, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, shared ways that the Teaching with Primary Sources community could offer solidarity and support to each other and learn innovative methods for teaching online;

WHEREAS the TPS Collective has helped improve the pedagogical skills of those who teach with primary sources through tool and software demonstrations, sandbox sessions, and workshops;

WHEREAS the TPS Collective has been effective in many formats, including in-person unconferences, Zoom meetings and workshops, and hosting an online library of instruction ideas, lessons, and other resources;

WHEREAS the TPS Collective’s work helps to demonstrate the importance of archives in society;

WHEREAS the TPS Collective employs ethics of care to nurture and create an inclusive community, understanding that everyone brings unique and valuable experiences;

WHEREAS the TPS Collective is a loosely structured community of people who contribute their knowledge and time to the Collective when and as they are able. Thus, singling out individuals runs counter to the purpose and spirit of the Collective;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the TPS Collective be honored with a 2023 Council Exemplary Service Award for fostering a culture of inclusiveness and participation while enhancing the professional growth of those teaching with primary sources.

Presented July 29, 2023

Distinguished Service Award: BitCurator Consortium

The BitCurator Consortium (BCC), a community-led membership association that supports archival practitioners working with born-digital materials, is the 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes an archives institution, education program, nonprofit organization, or government organization that has given outstanding service to its public and has made an exemplary contribution to the archives profession.

Launched in 2014, BCC provides supportive learning spaces, develops practical resources, and supports research to meet the needs of archivists working with historically significant born-digital records. The consortium benefits archivists and digital archives programs at all levels of expertise and needs, advocates for free and open-source tools, and demonstrates a successful model for shared leadership. Since its inception, BCC has engaged in projects that have significantly impacted digital curation practices, including the IMLS-funded projects “Sustaining Digital Curation and Preservation”; “Investigating, Synchronizing, and Modeling a Range of Archival Workflows for Born-Digital Content (OSSArcFlow)”; and BitCuratorEdu. BCC’s inclusive and accessible practices include offering a sliding scale (free to low cost) for its annual BitCurator Forum to early-career archivists and those at institutions with little funding.

Many supporters have praised BCC’s decentralized knowledge-sharing and thoughtful community building. The SAA Awards Committee commends the consortium for its impressive impact in building a practitioner-led learning community that offers practical support for sustainable digital curation. One participant stated: “At every step of my professional career, BCC has been there to help me grow. I do not believe that I would be the digital archivist that I am without the BCC community.”

SAA’s Distinguished Service Award was established in 1964. Previous recipients include ChromaDiverse, Inc., the Knox County Archives in Tennessee; and the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando, Florida.

Diversity Award: Gregory Hinton

Gregory Hinton, author, historian, and creator of the acclaimed Out West program, is the 2023 recipient of the Diversity Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes outstanding contributions in advancing diversity within the archives profession, SAA, or the archival record.

Many western-born LGBTQ+ individuals leave the rural conservative towns that reared them to seek out community, companionship, and safety in other places. Much of Hinton’s creative and scholarly endeavors are in response to this evacuation, in an effort to make visible queer history and presence in the American West. In 2009, Hinton created the Out West national program series for archives and museums to offer lectures, films, plays, gallery exhibitions, and collection acquisitions dedicated to LGBTQ+ history and culture in the American West. A noted filmmaker and playwright, Hinton’s plays Beyond Brokeback, Diversity Day, and A Sissy in Wyoming, performed across the country, are written from archival records relating to the LGBTQ+ community.

In 2015, Hinton cofounded “Out West in the Rockies” (OWIR), the first regional One City One Pride Western archives at the American Heritage Center (AHC) of the University of Wyoming. Focused on the eight Rocky Mountain states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, OWIR highlights LGBTQ+ history and culture in the American West by collecting, processing, and safeguarding queer histories for the benefit of students and scholars everywhere.

Hinton’s commitment in all his creative pursuits to preserving and telling the stories of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States has touched the lives of thousands of Americans and has created dedicated places to hold their histories. As noted by one of his nominators, “Gregory has been an invaluable partner of the AHC, assisting with acquisitions and public programming related to the LGBTQ+ experience in our region.” Another nominator commented, “He has taken his research and archival work to a whole new level by creating programs that thoughtfully impact communities. Gregory makes his research and archival work readily available as evidenced by the hundreds of presentations he has conducted in the West and beyond.” 

The Diversity Award was established in 2011. Previous recipients include Julie Varee, Judy Tyrus, and SAA Fellow Rebecca Hankins.

Donald Peterson Student Travel Award: Erika Alfieri

Erika Alfieri, who is pursuing a master’s degree in information science at Florida State University, is the 2023 recipient of the Donald Peterson Student Travel Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award, established in 2005, supports students and recent graduates from graduate archival programs within North America to attend SAA’s Annual Meeting. The goal of the scholarship is to stimulate greater participation in SAA events, such as presenting research or joining a committee or section.

While a full-time student, Alfieri completed SAA’s Arrangement and Description Certificate and participated in SAA’s Mentoring Program. Their internship and consultant experiences include accessioning archival plans for Florida’s Palm Beach Preservation Foundation and creating a collection-level inventory and processing plan with The Langley School in Virginia. They are currently collecting narratives from the LGBTQIA+ community in Jacksonville, Florida, for an oral history project entitled “River Stories.” Creating this archives is a significant first step in preserving and serving the community’s history. Alfieri’s mentor remarked on this labor of love, noting that “they demonstrate again and again their tireless determination to create an important repository of personal narratives for their community.”

As an early career archivist, Alfieri recognizes the value of both internships for learning new skills and networking with other archivists to achieve career goals. At the 2023 Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and SAA, Alfieri will present “Applied, Interviewed, Rejected: Learning From Failure and Making the Most of Graduate Student Internships,” covering best practices for graduate students searching and applying for internships. Alfieri’s poster “Using Word 365's Auto Transcription Feature for Oral Histories,” which outlines workflow processes from an internship in 2022, will also be on display.

F. Gerald Ham and Elsie Ham Scholarship Award: Olivija Liepa

Olivija Liepa, who is pursuing dual master’s degrees in archives and public history from New York University and in library and information science from Long Island University, is the 2023 recipient of the F. Gerald Ham and Elsie Ham Scholarship Award. Thanks to the generosity of past SAA President Jerry Ham and his wife, Elsie, Liepa will receive $10,000 to support her graduate archival studies.

In addition to her scholastic achievement in two master’s programs, Liepa has taken an active role in local archival work. She is a member of the Archivists’ Roundtable of Metropolitan New York, and she participated in a grant-funded project to digitize and describe Long Island’s historical materials. As part of this project, Liepa digitized materials and created inclusive metadata for Long Island-based historical societies, prominently the Cherry Grove Archives Collection, which preserves materials from the historically significant resort and safe haven for LGBTQ+ communities in Fire Island, New York.

In her insightful application essay, Liepa describes archival thinking using three frameworks: “the ability to think like a time traveler”; “the ability to communicate the essence of a record and think critically about it”; and “the ability to prioritize and be flexible.” The SAA Awards Committee was impressed with Liepa’s nuanced understanding of archival theory and practice demonstrated by each framework.

SAA's F. Gerald Ham and Elsie Ham Scholarship Award was established in 1998. Previous recipients include aems emswiler, the founder of the Inside Books Project (IBP); librarian Alexandra M. Wilder; and film and media curator Andy Uhrich.

Fellow: Derek Mosley

Derek Mosley, archivist and division manager at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, a special library of the Fulton County Library System, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during an awards ceremony at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and SAA in Washington, DC. The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.

Mosley, who holds an MS in archives management from Simmons University, has dedicated his career to identifying, preserving, and increasing awareness of and access to the documentation of Black history and culture. He began as director and archivist for the recently established Ernest J. Gaines Center at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, where he arranged and described the center's foundational collection, developed its website, secured grant funding, and created programming for students and community groups. Mosley then served as assistant head of Atlanta University Center's Archives Research Center, overseeing collections that document the African American experience. In 2016, Mosley became the archivist/division manager for the Auburn Avenue Research Library. He was instrumental in convincing the Georgia Public Library Service to prioritize a collaborative project to digitize African American funeral home programs, a project which provided critical information for the Black genealogical community. He was also key in the library’s participation in the IMLS grant-funded project “Archiving the Black Web.” This project, which establishes equitable and accessible web archiving practices, is significant not only because of the primary sources about Black life that it makes available, but also because it has increased the number of Black practitioners in web archiving who understand the diverse ways Black people participate online. 

Mosley’s enthusiastic and engaged leadership has shaped the archival profession on local and national levels. He has served on conference planning committees, election committees, and scholarship committees for several organizations, including SAA and the American Library Association. At SAA, he also served as a Council member and on its Executive Committee, during which time he contributed to the challenging and essential work of reviewing SAA’s bylaws. He has also served on the Diversity Committee, Committee on Education, Archivists and Archives of Color Section, and the Public Library and Special Collections Section. He is a founding member of the Atlanta Black Archives Alliance, a group that strives to educate Black communities on the importance of documenting their stories, and he was a member of the 2019 cohort of the Archives Leadership Institute. In 2021, he received the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board Award for Excellence in Documenting Georgia's History.

Mosley has written on access and service for multicultural patrons and presents regularly on the African American historical record to colleagues, researchers, and community organizations. He has also championed students and early-career archivists of color. His role with the ARL/SAA Mosaic Scholarship Program, for example, extended beyond evaluating scholarship applicants to co-creating the Mosaic Leadership Forum’s curriculum, recruiting speakers, and facilitating mock interview sessions.

As one supporter noted: “Mosley has demonstrated through his professional activities and his mentorship and generosity to colleagues that he has a steadfast commitment to the diversification of the historical record and diversity and inclusion among archivists. His energy and passion reflect the best characteristics one could hope for in the archival profession.” Another supporter praised Mosley’s active community presence and considerable dedication to not only an institutional scope but a national need for collection of and access to essential evidence of African American experiences and contributions, remarking that “the historical record is and will be far richer because of his efforts.”

Fellow: Jodi Allison-Bunnell

Jodi Allison-Bunnell, head of archives and special collections at the Montana State University Library, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during an awards ceremony at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and SAA in Washington, DC. The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.

Throughout her nearly thirty-year career, Allison-Bunnell has been a champion for the discovery and use of archival collections. Her work is undergirded by inclusive and collaborative partnerships, a solid foundation in descriptive standards, and a focus on pragmatic solutions that have assisted archives of all types. After receiving a master of library science and a master of arts in American history from the University of Maryland at College Park (where her advisor was SAA past president and Fellow Frank Burke), Allison-Bunnell worked as an archivist, research assistant, and grant project administrator at the University of Maryland at College Park and the University of Montana. In 2007, she became a program manager at the Orbis Cascade Alliance, where she sustained and led a regional finding aid and digital collections aggregation program for archives and other cultural heritage institutions in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Utah, and Idaho. The program, initially named Northwest Digital Archives and eventually becoming Archives West, is now one of the largest US-based finding aid networks, representing more than 50 contributors and 35,000 finding aids. It is completely supported with member and participant funding and receives no federal, state, or continuing grant support for normal operations, and serves as an impressive model for other regional, consortia-based archival description work.

In 2002, Allison-Bunnell launched AB Consulting, where she assisted clients in designing and implementing archival systems, conducting needs assessments, and facilitating stakeholder collaborations. Her clients included the California Digital Library, LYRASIS, and the Montana State Historical Records Advisory Board. She now works at Montana State University Library, where she manages an academic special collections repository and its staff.

Strengthening the design and deployment of encoded archival standards has been a throughline in Allison-Bunnell’s leadership roles. She has held leadership positions on the SAA Standards Committee and its Technical Subcommittees on Encoded Archival Description (EAD) and Encoded Archival Context for Corporate Bodies, Persons, and Families (EAC-CPF). Her work seeks to connect broad-based national and international standards initiatives to local practice, centering implementation on the needs of archivists and end users. She played a substantial role in organizing the revision of EAD Version 2002, an initiative that began as a grassroots effort and formalized under her leadership. This work catalyzed profession-wide conversations about the EAD3 standard and provided important feedback for honing the new version.

Her scholarship continues the theme of broad-based and user-centered archival discovery. She presents frequently at SAA and Northwest Archivists conferences, among other venues, and has published multiple case studies on Archives West and the impact of finding aid aggregations more broadly. Her recent article in American Archivist proposes a robust future of aggregations of finding aids, digital content, and metadata. One nominator noted: “She is adept at translating complex ideas into understandable concepts to ensure that people buy into work based on mutual understanding of a project's goals. She builds connections, understanding that archivists and the communities that use them are not involved in discrete transactions but in relationship building.” Another supporter stated: "She can communicate with a clarity and enthusiasm that generates support from those outside the profession. She is a sort of Neil deGrasse Tyson of archives: powerful knowledge plus an unsurpassed ability to communicate."

Fellow: Ricardo "Ricky" Punzalan

Ricardo "Ricky"  Punzalan, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during an awards ceremony at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and SAA in Washington, DC. The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.

A prolific scholar, educator, mentor, and advocate, Punzalan earned his master in library science from the University of the Philippines Diliman and his PhD in information, with certificates in museum studies and science, technology, and society, from the University of Michigan. Punzalan began as a museum archivist at the Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center in 2002, and then became the archivist and curator for the Culion Leprosy Museum and Archives, also in the Philippines, until 2006. He has served as an archival educator at the University of the Philippines, the University of Maryland, and the University of Michigan (UM). At UM, he led an initiative to restructure the curriculum to add courses in current and emerging issues, such as archives assessment, ethics, and scholarly communication, and has been a thoughtful proponent of decolonizing the curriculum. His diverse experience and his work as both a professional archivist and an educator enables him to look at archival issues in new ways, question theories, posit ideas on how to move forward, and lead collaborators, colleagues, and students to new insights.

In addition to mentoring students, Punzalan’s commitment to archival education is demonstrated in his service on the International Council on Archives Section on Archival Education (ICA-SAE), the advisory boards for UM’s Research Initiative for Master's Students, BitCurator.edu: Advancing Digital Forensics Education for Libraries and Archives, and Exploring New Frontiers in 21st Archival Education. In 2015 at the University of Maryland, College Park, he led the summer institute for the Archival Education and Research Initiative (AERI), a gathering of more than one hundred archival educators and PhD students from around the world. In 2020, he organized and chaired the International Conference of the History of Records and Archives (ICHORA).

Punzalan’s contributions to archival scholarship are equally impressive. His applied research on archival diaspora, digitization and access, and repatriation and reciprocity is community-engaged and offers tangible actions that impact practice. His current project, ReConnect/ReCollect: Reparative Connections to Philippine Collections project at UM, has brought together staff from the Bentley Historical Library, the Special Collections Research Center, the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, and members of the Filipino diaspora to discuss access needs, reparative description, and authority over these collections.

These themes are a throughline in Punzalan’s leadership in SAA as well. As chair of the Native American Archives Section (NAAS), Punzalan was a key advocate for SAA’s long-awaited endorsement of the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials, and he widely promoted the new standard as well as educated colleagues on respectful Indigenous archival stewardship. As a Council member, he contributed to expanding SAA’s DEIA policies and work plans in conjunction with its Strategic Plan. As co-chair of the Archival Repatriation Committee, Punzalan is leading the charge to develop guidance and training about archival repatriation, serve as subject matter experts and points of contact for other researchers, and engage in reparative and reciprocal actions that lead to better community and institutional relationships both in the United States and internationally.

As one supporter noted: "Punzalan is not simply knowledgeable about the work of our profession; he understands the importance of our work and encourages all of us to collaborate to bring about the societal change of which we are capable. He is always ready to contribute his substantial talent to making this happen." 

Fellow: Rosemary Pleva Flynn

Rosemary Pleva Flynn, principal librarian and archivist at the University of North Dakota, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during an awards ceremony at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and SAA in Washington, DC. The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.

Throughout Flynn’s career, first as a project archivist at Indiana University and then as the librarian and archivist at the University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center, Flynn has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to providing access to archival collections, expanding and defining an archival lexicon, teaching project and financial management to colleagues, and shaping the profession through her strong leadership in several archival organizations. Flynn earned a master's degree in library science from Indiana University, a master's degree in social science from Ball State University, a graduate certificate in UX from University of Wisconsin–Madison, and holds multiple certifications from the Association for Intelligent Information Management. She was part of the 2008 cohort of the Archives Leadership Institute and the 2021 cohort of the Women’s Fund Leadership Academy. Flynn first became a Certified Archivist in 2006 and recertified for the third time in 2023.

As an SAA leader, Flynn has served in multiple capacities, including on the Membership Committee, Standards Committee, and the Electronic Records Section, and as an instructor in SAA’s continuing education courses. Most notable is her work as chair of the Dictionary Working Group, which in 2012 began revising the publication, A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology by Richard Pearce-Moses (SAA, 2005), and created the new Dictionary of Archives Terminology. This open-access, authoritative, online resource receives more than ten percent of the SAA website’s visitors and includes hundreds of new terms and thousands of citations from more than 600 sources. For this valuable publication and their ongoing work on it, Flynn and the Dictionary Working Group received a Council Exemplary Service Award in 2020.

Paralleling her work and impact in SAA, Flynn has contributed her time and expertise to create professional guidelines and streamline workflows. As the Academy of Certified Archivists’ Regent for Exam Administration, she transitioned the ACA exam to a virtual test, increasing the number of exam takers, and she served as ACA’s representative to the Nexus LAB: Leading Across Boundaries project advisory board. She led ARMA International’s Website Records Management Working Group, which created Website Records Management guidelines, and was a member of the group that produced the Glossary of Records and Information Management, 3rd edition. In addition, Flynn was co-editor for the archival management column in the Journal of Archival Organization and has been a member of the Midwest Archives Conference, the American Library Association, the Special Libraries Association, the North Dakota Library Association, and the Mountain Plains Library Association.

One supporter noted: “Flynn represents the best of what an archivist should be, always finding ways to improve the public understanding of the archives profession. With resourcefulness and initiative, she articulates what archives offer the public and generates enthusiasm for archives as a profession.”

Fellows’ Ernst Posner Award: Alston Brake Cobourn, Jen Corrinne Brown, Edward Warga, and Lisa Louis

Alston Brake Cobourn, university archivist at East Carolina University; Jen Corrinne Brown, associate professor of history at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi; Edward Warga, library systems and discovery specialist at the St. Cloud State University Library; and Lisa Louis, director of user and research services at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi's Bell Library, are the 2023 recipients of the Fellows’ Ernst Posner Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes an outstanding essay dealing with some facet of archival administration, history, theory, and/or methodology that was published during the preceding year in SAA’s journal, American Archivist.

Their article, “Toward Metaliteracy and Transliteracy in the History Classroom: A Case Study Among Underserved Students,” which appeared in the Fall/Winter 2022 issue of American Archivist (vol. 85, no. 2), addresses the increasing importance of transliteracy and metaliteracy within the digital humanities, particularly for underserved students lacking college readiness. For their study, the authors used a class project from an “Introduction to Public History” undergraduate course at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, a regional university with a comparatively large population of historically underserved students. The students established a digital home for the ongoing South Texas Stories oral history project, and they learned about primary source literacy, information literacy, visual literacy, and digital literacy. The authors believe that such projects are feasible at all kinds of institutions, even those with largely historically underserved populations.

The SAA Awards Committee commended Cobourn, Brown, Warga, and Louis for “offering practical tools and excellent advice for working with communities to put them on a path to digital literacy.” The Committee found that the case study presents useful approaches to teaching student populations with little or no understanding of digital literacy. As such, it is a “widely applicable outreach approach and a model that others could use in the development of programs to support underserved communities and to help students understand the importance of preserving their digital footprints.”

Established in 1982, the award is named for Ernst Posner, an SAA Fellow and past president as well as a distinguished author. Recent recipients include Eliot Wilczek for “Archival Engagements with Wicked Problems” and Katherine Fisher for “Copyright and Preservation of Born-digital Materials: Persistent Challenges and Selected Strategies.”

Harold T. Pinkett Student of Color Award: Zoe Hume

Zoe Hume, a PhD student in the Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Curation program at Florida State University, is the 2023 recipient of the Harold T. Pinkett Student of Color Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes graduate students of color who, through scholastic achievement, manifest an interest in becoming professional archivists and active members of SAA.

Before pursuing her doctorate, Hume received both a bachelor of arts in English and a master of science in information from Florida State University. In addition to her academic achievements, she has held a number of professional roles in which she’s worked to create a more inclusive and comprehensive historical record. As an undergraduate student, she worked in an on-campus archives dedicated to World War II materials. As the Reparative and Inclusive Description Survey Scholar at the University of San Francisco (USF) Gleeson Library | Geschke Center, Hume developed recommendations to bring the library's descriptive practices into alignment with other antiracist initiatives at USF. In another role as a Buchanan Burnham Summer Scholar at the Newport Historical Society, she helped launch a database of enslaved, indentured, and manumitted populations in colonial Rhode Island. She rejoined the Newport Historical Society in 2023 as a Van Buren Research Fellow to work on its BIPOC biographies initiative. Hume hopes in her career "to break down the informational silos among libraries, archives, and museums so that all aspects of memory work and cultural heritage may learn from and teach one another."

Established in 1993, the award honors the late Dr. Harold T. Pinkett, who served with distinction during his long tenure at the National Archives and Records Administration and who was a Fellow of SAA.

J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award: West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection Advisory Team

The West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection (WVFAC) Advisory Team is the 2023 recipient of the J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). This award honors an individual, institution, or organization that promotes greater public awareness, appreciation, or support of archival activities or programs.

Inspired to honor the activism by and for women in their home state of West Virginia, Christine Weiss Daugherty, Susan Kelley, Dr. Judith Stitzel, and Carroll Wilkinson formed the WVFAC Advisory Team in 2017. The group initiated the acquisition of important feminist records, including the papers of West Virginia Free, a state-wide reproductive rights organization, and the papers of Lisa Diehl, a West Virginia women's rights advocate. Through their efforts, WVFAC has played a pivotal role in preserving records that tell the story of feminist activism in West Virginia and demonstrating the connection between archives and historical narratives. The team has gone on to raise awareness through public events and virtual presentations demystifying archives and increasing their accessibility to the public. Their events frequently speak to the history of intersectional feminism in the state of West Virginia. As one supporter remarked, the WFAC Advisory team members "have worked to create a more inclusive archival record and educate the public, especially women and activists, to value and preserve their own history."

SAA's J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award was established in 1989. Previous recipients include Brad Pomerance, CJ Eastman, and the Council of Independent Colleges' Humanities Research for the Public Good Program; Tempestt Hazel and The Kitchen Sisters; and Yvonne Lewis Holley and Brad Meltzer.

Josephine Forman Scholarship: Hannah Gershone

Hannah Gershone, who will begin pursuing a master of library and information science at Simmons University in the fall, is the 2023 recipient of the Josephine Forman Scholarship sponsored by the General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church, in cooperation with the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The $10,000 scholarship provides financial support to students of color pursuing graduate education in archival science, encourages students to pursue careers as archivists, and promotes the diversification of the American archives profession.

Gershone’s scholarly work focuses on social and environmental justice, digital storytelling, and archives. She holds a master of science in environmental studies from the University of Oregon, and she plans to use her knowledge in this area to pursue ways at Simmons University for archival institutions to advocate for robust documentation and preservation of governmental response to climate change. Environmental justice and recordkeeping are particularly important to Gershone because, as she noted in her application essay, “Black, Indigenous, and communities of color are often on the frontlines of climate change, bearing the brunt of environmental oppression.” She applied these interests during her tenure as a 2022 Yale Environmental Fellow, when she developed three interactive maps of environmental justice grantmaking in Latin America from 1999 to 2022 to visualize philanthropic trends. For this project, she interviewed environmental grantmakers on resource “extractivism” and created a StoryMap on Colombian Indigenous-led movements to showcase their experiences. Moving forward, she hopes to continue to create strong community partnerships and digital storytelling projects around environmental justice issues as an outreach archivist or digital curator.

The SAA Awards Committee found Gershone’s work at the intersection of community memory, environmental justice, and ethnic studies commendable and forward-looking. As one supporter noted, “Gershone has been a joy to learn from and mentor on what it takes to develop and manage a digital collection and move into the professional direction of becoming an archives curator who supports postcustodial approaches to building and maintaining memory spaces.”

Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award: Catheryne Popovitch

Catheryne Popovitch, deputy director at the Illinois State Archives, is the 2023 recipient of the Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and performed commendable service to the archives profession.

During her nine years at the Illinois State Archives, Popovitch’s strong leadership has advanced professional education and resources for other archivists. In the past two years, she managed a federal grant at the State Archives to digitize 40,000 photographs from Eddie Winifred “Doc” Helm, one of the state’s leading African American photographers. She also serves as deputy coordinator for the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board’s (ISHRAB) grant program, which, under her leadership, received the 2020 Council of State Archivists (CoSA)–National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) Award of Merit. Each year, the ISHRAB grant program provides grants to small archival institutions in Illinois and gives scholarships to nearly one hundred Illinois archivists.

In addition to her work with ISHRAB and the State Archives, Popovitch is also an active member of CoSA, where she sits on the Board of Directors and is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Committee and the SERI Steering Committee. She serves as co-chair of CoSA’s Education and Training Committee, which provides continuing education to hundreds of archivists nationwide. In 2019, Popovitch served on the program committee for SAA and CoSA’s Joint Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, and received CoSA’s President’s Award for her significant contribution.

As one recommender writes, “In her service to the state of Illinois and CoSA, Popovitch looks for more efficient and innovative ways to complete assignments and projects, promoting the organization’s mission. Her professionalism has earned her the respect of her colleagues and other professionals.” Another adds, “She is an outstanding leader in our profession, and a credit to every project she has been involved in.”

Established in 2011 and renamed in 2017, the award honors SAA Fellow and Past President Mark A. Greene. 

Mosaic Scholarship: Dharani Persaud

Dharani Persaud, who is pursuing dual master’s degrees in archival studies and library and information science from the University of British Columbia, is the 2023 recipient of the Mosaic Scholarship given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The $5,000 scholarship is given to a student who demonstrates potential for scholastic and personal achievement and who manifests a commitment both to the archival profession and to advancing diversity concerns within it.

After completing her undergraduate studies, Persaud co-created Ro(u)ted By Our Stories, an oral history archives for Indo-Caribbean women and gender-expansive individuals. Working on this project inspired her to pursue academic training in archives. At the University of British Columbia, Persaud co-leads IDEAS, a student group that aims to provide a safe and productive community for Indigenous, Black, and People of Color (IBPOC) students on campus. In this role, she plans programming featuring archives and library professionals and creates workshops to assist students with professional development. In addition to her academic and leadership work, Persaud works as an archival catalog and research assistant at the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive at the University of Fraser Valley, where she is assisting in the early stages of creating an LGBTQIA+ collection and an Indo-Caribbean collection. In her work and education, Persaud seeks to make archives more accessible and representative of people who historically have been excluded or marginalized.

One of Persaud's supporters notes that she "possesses an inquiring and sharp intellect, and compassionate interest in social justice and archival silences. She is consistently thoughtful and generous with her knowledge in support of her peers' learning." Another remarked, "Her work is always thorough and thoughtful, demonstrating excellent critical analysis and a deeply ethical orientation."

First awarded in 2009, the Mosaic Scholarship also provides recipients with a one-year membership in SAA and a complimentary registration to the SAA conference.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Travel Award: Matthew Yang

Matthew Yang, who is pursuing a master of arts degree in moving image archiving and preservation at New York University, is the 2023 recipient of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Travel Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award enables international archivists who are training or studying in the United States or Canada to augment their experience by attending the SAA Annual Meeting

In all his archival work, Yang seeks to find creative solutions and advocate for archives, particularly for audiovisual preservation. He received a bachelor of communication studies in cinema and art history from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. While there, Yang organized talks on audiovisual preservation and film restoration for film students. In 2017, he joined the Asian Film Archive as an archives officer. In that role, Yang managed numerous film restoration projects that premiered at international film festivals, such as Cannes and Rotterdam. He also designed a new canister carrier bag to assist archives employees in transporting film collections between their offices and the vault, which were several blocks apart. Yang's goal after completing his studies is to develop a digital preservation and literacy program in Southeast Asia. Attendance at the 2023 Joint Annual Meeting will enable Yang to connect with international colleagues. Yang wrote in his application, "I hope to use the conference to get feedback and suggestions to improve my ideas to achieve the digital preservation curriculum I envision."

Established in 1979, this award honors SAA Fellow and past president Oliver Wendell Holmes. Past recipients include Chaeyeon Kim (South Korea), Jiarui Sun (China), Klavier Jie Ying Wang (China), and Tianjiao Qi (China).

Philip M. Hamer–Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award: Dr. William Fliss

Dr. William Fliss, curator of the J. R. R. Tolkien manuscript collection at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the 2023 recipient of the Philip M. Hamer–Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). This award recognizes an individual, institution, or organization that has increased public awareness of archives documents.

Fliss is being honored for his significant work in improving access to and awareness of the J. R. R. Tolkien manuscript collection housed in Marquette’s Special Collections and University Archives. The collection, which was established in the 1950s and added to in the 1980s, has been very challenging to use for decades, requiring scholars to travel to the institution with limited access to original documents. Beginning in 2013, Fliss digitized the collection and reprocessed the digital surrogates, mapping out how the component pieces fit together. He envisioned and implemented the Anduin^TM system, which allows onsite researchers to digitally view and sort the collection in multifaceted ways while maintaining decades of scholarly citations. In collaboration with the Haggerty Museum of Art and the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford, Fliss curated the exhibition, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript, in 2022. The exhibition appeared at the Haggerty Museum, received more than 12,000 visitors, and included fifty Tolkien manuscripts never exhibited before as well as twenty-eight educational programs. With so many attendees, Fliss used the opportunity to record 302 submissions to the J. R. R. Tolkien Fandom Oral History Collection, which highlights contemporary views of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. His work with the exhibition also sparked interest in the collection among younger generations as it brought new educational opportunities to campus classes and local K–12 programs.

One supporter praised Fliss’s work as exemplary because of his “impressive and persistent commitment to understand and organize the material, all conducted with careful and responsible concern with its long-term preservation.” Another supporter described Fliss as a visionary archivist who “revitalized a collection that, in many respects, needs no introduction.”

Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award: Russell Gasero

Russell Gasero, archivist for the Reformed Church in America for forty-two years, is the 2023 recipient of the Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in conjunction with the Society of Southwest Archivists. The award honors an archivist who has made a significant contribution to the field of religious archives.

Recently retired, Gasero’s archival career of nearly fifty years has significantly shaped the landscape of religious archives and the Society of American Archivists. A graduate of Hope College and Rutgers University, Gasero began his career at the United Nations Archives, before establishing the Reformed Church in American Archives in 1978. He was among the first class of members in the Academy of Certified Archivists. Within SAA, Russell cofounded and served on the steering committee of the Archivists of Religious Institutions (ARI) group, which set the stage for other regional religious archives groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1991, he presented the new name for the Archivists of Religious Collections Section (ARCS) and was elected vice-chair/chair-elect that same year. More recently, Russell served on the ARCS Models and Resources Committee, which develops guidelines and sample policies relating to the administration of religious collections. Gasero also was instrumental in the founding of SAA’s Lone Arrangers Section in 2003 and served as its chair for several years.

Russell has frequently presented and chaired sessions at SAA’s and ARI’s annual meetings, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, and the American Association for State and Local History, and has embraced the form of video blogging to share resources and guidance for archivists. In addition, he has authored and contributed to several publications, including the chapter “The Story of the Archives of the Reformed Church in America,” in Tools for Understanding: Essays in Honor of Donald J. Bruggink (Reformed Church Press, 2009); the memoir A Historical Footprint: Reflections on a Life in the Archives (Wit & Intellect Publishing LLC, 2021); and Why Do We Have Archives? (Reformed Church Press, 2022).

His supporter noted: “Because of his enduring dedication to archives, his support of archivists of all ages, his advocacy for the profession, and his ongoing commitment to participating in professional endeavors and volunteerism, Gasero truly has exhibited the spirit that we celebrate through the Sister M. Claude Lane, OP Memorial Award.”

Created in 1974, this award honors Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., a Dominican nun who was the first professionally trained archivist at the Catholic Archives of Texas in Austin. Past recipients include Carol W. Smith, archivist for Christ Church Preservation Trust, and Mary Grace Kosta, Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada.

Spotlight Award: Emily Pfotenhauer

Emily Pfotenhauer, former digital strategist and grants manager at Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS), is the 2023 recipient of the Spotlight Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the profession and archival collections—work that does not typically receive public recognition.

Pfotenhauer has had an enormous influence on the archival community in Wisconsin. She began her career in 2006 working with the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Chipstone Foundation on the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database, which married her love of material culture to digital curation. In 2009, she joined WiLS, where she contributed to several digital cultural heritage projects, including shepherding Wisconsin Heritage Online—now known as Recollection Wisconsin—a project aimed at making Wisconsin’s cultural heritage widely accessible online. Pfotenhauer guided that project until 2023, leading it through several evolutions including a shift in 2016 when it became the state’s pathway to the Digital Public Library of America. As her nominator noted, “Pfotenhauer’s stewardship of Recollection Wisconsin has made it an unmatched national model in terms of organization, governance, and success working across a statewide network of diverse cultural heritage organizations.”

Pfotenhauer’s advocacy extends beyond WiLS into her work with Wisconsin’s Indigenous communities. Beginning with the creation of the Mukurtu Midwest hub in 2017, she has led efforts to support Indigenous communities in their initiatives to digitize and make accessible their cultural heritage materials. Pfotenhauer has also partnered with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Information School to mentor students in responsible contribution to Indigenous digital collections work. Additionally, she spearheaded Curating Community Digital Collections, an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant-funded project to provide library school students with practical experience in digital stewardship. She has often provided opportunities for practicum students from UW–Madison iSchool and supports them as they consider a professional path in archives.

Established in 2015, past recipients of the Spotlight Award include Georgina Tom (‘Iolani School), Lee Price (fundraising professional for cultural institutions), and Michelle Ganz (McDonough Innovation).

Theodore Calvin Pease Award: Sony Prosper

Sony Prosper, who is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Michigan School of Information, is the 2023 recipient of the Theodore Calvin Pease Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes superior writing achievement by a student of archival studies, and entries are judged on innovation, scholarship, pertinence, and clarity of writing.

Prosper’s paper, “Conceptualizing Records: Black Bottom Archives, Detroit Sound Conservancy, Faulkner Morgan Archive, Hula Preservation Society, and History Project,” explores conceptualizations of archival records in the context of community archives. Prosper provides evidence of how definitions of the record, as understood by community members, can inform ongoing work with those records as well as broader archival practice.

The paper was nominated by Dr. Ricardo Punzalan, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, who noted: “The paper presents new qualitative data that explains how community members conceptualize records and how these conceptualizations inform community archives’ programs and practices. This is an important contribution as the archival field continues to work with community archives and develop community-based programs.”

The Awards Committee found Prosper’s approach to the definition of the archival record illuminating and appreciated Prosper’s engagement with grassroots organizations through interviews. The article speaks to a critical, profession-wide goal of diversifying the archival record and asks readers to engage with intellectually challenging concepts relating to memory, agency, and power.

Prosper’s paper will be published in American Archivist Volume 87, Number 1 (Spring/Summer 2024). Established in 1987, the award is named for the first editor of American Archivist. Recent recipients include Ferris Evans of the University of Toronto and Rachel Walton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Waldo Gifford Leland Award: James Lowry

James Lowry, associate professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies and director of the Archival Technologies Lab at Queens College, City University of New York, is the 2023 recipient of the Waldo Gifford Leland Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) for the edited collection Disputed Archival Heritage, published by Routledge in 2022. The award is given for writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the fields of archival history, theory, and practice.

Disputed Archival Heritage is a landmark work useful for scholars and practitioners working within the fraught terrains of archival displacement, dispossession, repatriation, or shared heritage. Highlighting diverse cultures known on the map by geopolitical entities like Suriname or Namibia, as well as archives of places whose memory-keepers resist imposed toponyms, Lowry and nineteen contributors make clear why the physical, linguistic, and cultural placement of archives matters.

With excellent writing that is both readable and inclusive of personal experience, Disputed Archival Heritage is an engrossing book with a compelling set of messages on global archival cultures and the politics of place. One reviewer celebrated how this book “engages with international archival values in the spirit of mitigating harm, caring for collections ethically, and envisioning a new future of access, discovery, preservation, and care that is inclusive and equitable.”

Established in 1959, the Waldo Gifford Leland Award is named for one of North America’s archival pioneers and SAA’s second president. Past recipients include Jason Lustig for A Time to Gather: Archives and the Control of Jewish Culture, Cheryl Oestreicher for Reference and Access for Archives and Manuscripts, and Jean-Christophe Cloutier for Shadow Archives: The Lifecycles of African American Literature.