Archival History Section Candidates for Steering Committee and Early Career Member Position

Following are bios of, as well as statements from, candidates running for the Archival History Section Steering Committee and for its Early Career Member Position. See also Archival History News, https://archivalhistory.news.

The ballots themselves will be open in mid-summer and will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey. Keep an eye on your inbox for the official ballot.

In the meantime, we thank all our excellent candidates for their willingness to serve.

Note: Current Vice Chair Rebecca Hankins will be stepping down early as she pursues new work opportunities. To maintain leadership continuity, current chair Susan Tucker will extend her term and remain chair through August 2023.

You will be voting for: • One (1) Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (or Co-chair), for a two-year term with one year to be served as Chair; and • Three (3) Steering Committee members, for one-year terms; and • One (1) Early Career Member to the Steering Committee for a one-year term.

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For Vice-Chair: Dane Flansburgh

Candidate Statement: It has been a sincere pleasure to serve as a steering committee member for AHS for the last year, and I am excited to run for Vice-Chair this year. I am proud of the committee’s work in fostering respect and interest in the history of our profession, and it has been an honor to be a small part of that. As Vice-Chair I would like to take a more active approach to our ongoing initiatives such as the histories of Special Collections and University Archives.

Bio: Dane Flansburgh is a graduate of Onondaga Community College (A.A. in Humanities and Social Sciences), LeMoyne College (B.A. in History), and University of Pittsburgh (MLIS with concentration in Archives, Preservation, and Records Management). His work experience includes The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY and Syracuse University. He has been at the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at Syracuse University since 2016, and in his current position as Assistant Archivist since 2018. He has served on the Archival History Section for the last two years.

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Steering Committee Members

The names below are placed in alphabetical order. You will be voting for three.

Trevor Alford

Candidate Statement: I love being an archivist and contributing to the profession through SAA and have previously served in the Web Archiving Section and the Spotlight Award Committee. Understanding our past is vital to ensuring our future, and I am excited for the opportunity to play a role in documenting and communicating archival history.

Bio: Trevor Alvord has been the curator of 21st-century Mormonism and Western Americana at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections since 2012. He is responsible for building the BYU web archive and collecting modern imprints, art, and media, to document Mormonism’s historical and cultural expression. Before BYU, he served as a Processing Archivist at Utah State University and as Head of Special Collections at James Madison University. Trevor received undergraduate degrees from USU in History and Religious Studies in 2007 and his MLIS from San Jose State University in 2009. Research interests are in the culture, expression, identity, and portrayal of Mormonism. Trevor has served on the Archival History Section’s Steering Committee for one year.

Katharina Hering

Candidate Statement: As a long-time member and supporter of the Archival History Section, I’m very interested in assisting the steering committee and the members of the section with developing and promoting the section’s ongoing major initiatives, including the growing bibliography on archival history, the Archival History News, and the initiative to crowdsource histories of archival repositories in the United States. I’m particularly interested in connecting with ongoing initiatives and scholarship on international archival history, while promoting the section’s amazing resources inside and outside the archives profession.

Bio: Katharina Hering’s research interests include the history of Pennsylvania German genealogical practices in transnational perspective, the representation of public records in genealogical databases, the history of digital history, and the history of oral history. Recent publications include a review of Adam Crymble’s Technology and the Historian in Information & Culture, and an article about the representation of NARA’s INS records in Ancestry’s database portal in Archivaria (see also her Zotero profile: https://www.zotero.org/khering). She works as a Digital Project Librarian at the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, and also teaches an undergraduate course on digital history as an adjunct at the Department of History & Art History at George Mason University.

Colin Post

Candidate Statement: I hope to bring the perspective of an archival educator to the Archival History Section steering committee. As an educator, I firmly believe that students and new professionals benefit from learning the historical development of the current technologies, standards, and best practices used in archives and other information institutions. The community fostered by the Archival History Section is a great place for students, in particular, to learn about how the history of the archival profession remains relevant and instructive for archival professionals today. As a member of the steering committee, I would work to make the resources developed by the Archival History Section more accessible to students, as well as to encourage student participation in the section.

Bio: Colin Post is an Assistant Professor in Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro. He teaches courses in archives, special collections, and information technology history. His research focuses on the preservation of digital art and literature in cultural heritage institutions and in creative communities.

Alan H. Stein

Candidate Statement: I have an abiding interest in preserving archival records, history, and recordings. I have been a valued member of SAA since 1995 when I graduated with a Certificate in Archival Administration from Wayne State University. I look forward to serving this Committee and its efforts to preserve institutional memory, and welcome ideas and programs of the Section.

Bio: Alan H. Stein is an archival oral historian and a public programming librarian. He is past-Director of the Consortium of Oral History Educators and is past Chair of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Oral History Section, and the OHA Education Committee. He is currently serving a three-year term on the Oral History Association (OHA) Diversity Committee. In 2021 Stein received an Archival Workers Emergency Fund Grant, from the Society of American Archivists.

Natalie Worsham

Candidate Statement: I am running as a member of the steering committee in order to stay involved with the Archival History Section. In my experience with the section first as intern, then co-editor, and now editor of the newsletter, I have always enjoyed working with the committee. Making connections with others passionate about archival history and learning more about the discipline is important to me.

Bio: Natalie Worsham began as an intern with the Archival History Section in August 2018. After her year-long internship was finished, she decided to continue to volunteer as a co-editor. Natalie lives in New Orleans and graduated with the dual degree Master of Library and Information Science with a Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies from Louisiana State University in December 2019. She was involved with the SAA student chapter at LSU. She holds a master’s degree in History from Southeastern Louisiana University (2014). She volunteers at The Historic New Orleans Collection as a cataloguer in the Williams Research Center. She served as a Steering Committee Member with the Archival History Section in 2020. Working with Archival History News, she hopes to gain insight into the archival profession and learn how to combine her two loves of history and archives.

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Early Career Member Position

The names below are placed in alphabetical order. You will be voting for one.

Bernadette Birzer

Candidate Statement: My past and current work/research focused on decolonizing the archives and creating inclusive and reparative descriptions which in turn have led me down a path to explore the origins of libraries and archives in the United States. As an archivist for a feminist collection, I am especially interested in how women of color have influenced the library and archives profession and have utilized their positions for activism. I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with other archives/special collection professionals to support the SAA's Archives History Section's mission, goals, and programming by joining the Steering Committee.

Bio: Bernadette Birzer is the Archivist for Collection Management and Digital Initiatives at Newcomb Institute's Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Collection at Tulane University. Newcomb Archives collects, preserves, and makes available records that document the history of women and gender in the Gulf South. Bernadette holds an MLIS and Graduate Certificate in Archives and Special Collections from the University of Southern Mississippi, a Master of Liberal Arts (with an emphasis in gender and sexuality) from Tulane University’s School of Professional Advancement, and is also a Certified Archivist via the Academy of Certified Archivists. Bernadette is currently pursuing a Digital Archives Specialist Certificate (DAS) from the Society of American Archivists and just became a National Heritage Responder via the American Institute for Conservation/FAIC.

Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger

Candidate Statement: I am interested in using my background in historical research and methodologies to further explore the history of archives and special collections and to make this information accessible to those inside and outside the archival profession. I believe that a better understanding of archival history is necessary to identify and remove barriers to entrance into the archival profession and make archives accessible to a broader community of researchers.

Bio: Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger has been the Haverford College Archivist & Records Manager since June 2019. She previously worked in archival positions at the University of Delaware and the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She received her M.A. from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware in 2009 and her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from the University of Delaware in 2017. At Haverford, she launched the Documenting Student Life Project in 2020. The project employs student liaisons to document student life on campus in a sustained manner through regular outreach to student groups, oral histories with alumni, and improved processing and description of student-generated archival materials. She has also extensively documented the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic at Haverford and the 2020 student-led strike on campus.