Helen Kim, Candidate for Nominating Committee

Helen Kim

Institutional Archivist,
Getty Research Institute

"Diversity must come from the top; it’s not enough to have scholarships for 'diverse' students if diversity is only reflected at the bottom. It must be seen and felt in leadership positions. Having a diverse leadership shows prospective archivists not only that the field is changing, but that it is welcoming."

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Institutional Archivist, Getty Research Institute, 2015–present.
• Archivist, Visual Communications, 2012–2014.
• Archives Intern, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, 2011–2012.
• Archives and Collections Intern, NBCUniversal, 2011.

EDUCATION

• MS, Information Studies, The University of Texas at Austin.
• BA, History, University of California, Santa Barbara.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Society of American Archivists: Mentoring Program Subcommittee, Member (2019–present); Mosaic Award Subcommittee, Member (2014–2017), Chair (2017); Women Archivists Roundtable, Steering Committee Member (2013–2016); Mentor (2014); Appointments Committee, Member (2013–2014); Reference, Access, and Outreach Section, 23 Things for Archivists Subcommittee (2013), Intern (2011–2012).

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

• "Beyond the Retention Schedule," coauthored with Lorain Wang, Sara Seltzer, and Jennifer Thompson, Archival Outlook (Sept/Oct 2015).
• Mosaic Scholar Award, Society of American Archivists, 2011.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

• Association of Asian American Studies: “Thru Our Eyes: Community History Keepers and Presenters,” 2014.

QUESTION POSED BY NOMINATING COMMITTEE 

The work of the Nominating Committee is critical to the success of SAA as an organization. Describe how you would identify and recruit potential candidates who represent a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives and who demonstrate commitment to SAA’s Strategic Goals.

CANDIDATE’S RESPONSE

Growing up, I had never heard of archivists. In fact, I was unaware the profession existed until I was investigating grad school programs in my late twenties!  Although I grew up in the heart of Los Angeles, I did not know anyone who worked in cultural heritage; they were not in my networks. I’m hardly alone. When children are not exposed to these professions, they have no way to imagine themselves in them and, many times, it results in a lack of diversity in a field, like ours.

We have institutional hurdles in this field that limit who become archivists: reliance on grant-funded positions, which require people to make costly moves, which are hard on anyone, especially caregivers who perhaps can’t partake due to existing obligations; unpaid internships, which give working and poorer students a disadvantage after graduation; and a reliance on professional activity to succeed in the profession, which requires expensive costs to travel to conferences.

I’ve tried to help these students and new professionals through a variety of ways. I have been a mentor, both officially and unofficially, and supervised interns of color. I have done many informal informational interviews with prospective students through introductions from colleagues, friends, former professors, and even Twitter. When I served on the SAA Mosaic Scholarship Subcommittee, I had the opportunity to review so many qualified, smart, and knowledgeable candidates of color, which was immensely rewarding. I was always so impressed by their statements and activities. It was disappointing to know we could only give one or two awards.

After a professional hiatus due to having two kids in 25 months (and solo parenting for 60 weeks!), I am currently serving on the SAA Mentoring Program Subcommittee, pairing up mentors and students, and serving as a mentor myself. I see the role of the Nominating Committee acting in a similar function to match up the best candidates with work towards fulfilling SAA’s goals, and to make the profession a more equitable one for all, especially those people who are underrepresented.

When working towards identifying candidates for SAA Council, I will look beyond the CV; I want to know people’s life experiences and backgrounds that contribute to their understanding of others different than them. How do they lift people up and include others to help create a more diverse and inclusive environment? So, I will explore: what are these candidates doing right now to lift up others? The way to create a diverse organization is to provide more opportunity.

Diversity must come from the top; it’s not enough to have scholarships for “diverse” students if diversity is only reflected at the bottom. It must be seen and felt in leadership positions. Having a diverse leadership shows prospective archivists not only that the field is changing, but that it is welcoming. We need to reflect the diversity of the American populace so we can ensure that we are collecting the voices that have every right to be represented in the records. 

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