- About Archives
- About SAA
- Careers
- Education
- Publications
- Advocacy
- Membership
The Archivists and Archives of Color Section Steering Committee is excited to announce the excellent slate of candidates running in this year’s election. Please review their bios and statements before casting your votes.
You will be voting for:
SAA staff administer ballots through Survey Monkey and will email you the ballot when voting opens.
Tamera Coleman
Staff Corporate Archivist, History Factory
Bio: Currently, Staff Archivist with the History Factory, Chantilly, Virginia, processing corporate collections. Experienced digital media professional with 20 years in print and broadcast journalism, creating, producing, curating, migrating and preserving content for broadcast media outlets and digital startups such as ABC, NBC, AOL Time Warner, PBS, Verizon | Redbox Instant, NASA and DLA. Also museum curator of the 2019 quilt exhibit, "Expressions" with the PGAAMCC and curatorial assistant with the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum 2023 exhibit, 'To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Greater Washington." MA Producing Visual Media, American University; BA Broadcast Journalism, Howard University and expected DAS Certificate, September 2024.
Statement: Upon formally transitioning to the Archives profession in 2019 from broadcast media, and as a member of the SAA and new project archivist working with institutions like NASA, then as staff archivist with History Factory and curatorial roles with museums, the lack of diversity with BIPOC in the archives profession became extremely obvious. Entering the profession also found there is a great need for diversity in age, mentorship to new and seasoned transitioning professionals and diverse perspective relative to curating, preserving and exhibiting collections related to African American culture and the diaspora. My motivation for serving is to bring diversity to the committee, be an instrument to help guide transitioning professionals like myself, as most focus and opportunities seem to be focused on new graduates. And to bring a voice of color to collections of color.
Lauren Cooper
Center for Black Digital Research Librarian and Managing Director, Penn State University
Bio: Hello, I’m Lauren Cooper (Akimel O’odham, Muscogee, she/her), the Digital Scholarship Librarian and the Managing Director for the Center for Black Digital Research at Penn State University. Before becoming a librarian in 2018, I worked in the publishing field, primarily at non-profit and education organizations, for more than 20 years amplifying underrepresented voices, communities, and histories through independent magazines, alternative newsweeklies, and K-12 curriculum. It’s while working at Teaching for Change and the Zinn Education Project that I began to delve into archives and digital collections to search for images that presented women, communities of color, and social movements in a positive light to pair with books, articles, and teaching guides. This inspired me to get an MLIS degree with an emphasis on Archives and Digital Curation. Writing, editing, and production are areas of expertise I bring to all my work. Currently I utilize these skills in the production of digital exhibit building and managing the Center for Black Digital Research’s web pages and posts, annual reporting, offer letters, and proposals.
Statement: I’ve been involved with editorial production since high school and college (the 1990s!), working on the student newspapers and literary journals in all roles including writer, editor, photographer, and layout coordinator. I’ve experienced publishing’s digital evolution and how this transforms the way we communicate ideas, stories, and histories. This is an opportunity to be involved with SAA where I can contribute my editorial expertise, connect with other archivists and archives of color, collaborate in the promotion of our voices, and learn about our commonalities in the archives field and what makes us unique and distinct. I enjoy editing to clarify information and writing to advocate for people and communities. Thanks for your consideration!
Arthur Carlson
University Archivist & Assistant Director for Gordon Library, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Bio: Arthur Larentz Carlson is the University Archivist and Assistant Director of George C. Gordon Library at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). In that role, he oversees the Institute’s institutional archives, manuscript holdings, art & object collections, as well as elements of the digital repository. He is committed to the preservation and discovery of materials that document history and culture through his work and volunteer service. He has curated numerous physical and digital exhibitions on a wide range of topics including Charles Dickens, diversity in higher education, race and propaganda in product advertising, and interactive media. As a historian, Arthur has published and presented on desegregation in the American South and mid-Atlantic colonial natural history. He is a member of the Society of American Archivists and New England Archives Association.
Statement: I am passionate about increasing both diversity within archival collections and among those individuals working in this and related fields. As institutions and organizations continue to recognize and value the importance of diversity, there will be opportunities for new voices and perspectives to help uncover the still-hidden elements of our shared experiences. I think it is vital we actively recruit and foster talent that has the potential to increase the shared life and cultural experiences of our profession to help create environments that can foster a welcome environment while learning from the often-painful lessons of our past and would welcome the opportunity to work on the SAA Archivists and Archives of Color section Steering Committee to promote those aims.
Evelyn Davis
Processing Archivist and Digital Humanities Librarian I, Prairie View A&M University
Bio: Hello, My name is Evelyn Davis and consider myself the HBCU archivist. I am a Processing Archivist and Digital Humanities Librarian at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Tx. I assist with helping the university re-discover their history since PVAMU is the second oldest university in the state of Texas. While obtaining my dual master's degrees, I had a passion and interest in African American Studies within Special Collections, so when I got the offer to work at an HBCU, I am honored to become a part of a rich history and legacy of families here in Prairie View, Tx. My other hobbies include writing poetry, dancing, bowling, painting artwork, exploring my local museums, blogging, and podcasting. Additionally, I am a Louisiana native, born in the New Orleans area and greatly influenced by my Creole heritage to embrace different cultures and having the need to preserve historical places. As a result, my love for cultural preservation started out combining my passion for writing and wanting to preserve stories at the same time. So, I am happy to continue my journey into Black Librarianship and strive to help communities preserve their stories for future generations.
Statement: My background in cultural preservation of African American collections, I would like to expand my knowledge and network in the Archivist and Archives of Color committee. I want to continue to serve and protect African American history as we are facing hard time where schools are revising curriculums and taking out important aspects of African American history. I am also interested in doing outreach events including oral history digital humanities projects with various unknown and underrepresented communities and bring this knowledge to the committee to train African Americans about the importance of preservation. Hence, this is my motivation for serving in the Archivist and Archives of Color committee.
Damahn Sterling
Digitization Assistant, Tacoma Public Library
Bio: Hi, my name is Damahn Sterling and I am a Curiosity Navigator for Tacoma Public Libraries. I served in the Air Force for a few years, before retiring and transitioning into libraries and archives. I am currently a junior pursuing a Media and Communication Studies Bachelors at the University of Washington from their Bothell Campus. When I'm not working and in school, I like listening to my records, walking outside, or exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Statement: As a new aspiring archivist, I would like to involve myself with other members in SAA. I would like to be more intentional about the purpose that I am trying to fulfill and I think that being a Steering Committee Member would be able to help me with that goal. I have been a Digitization and Archives assistant since September, and I would like to keep learning to not only be better in my role, but connect with others to help each other find success in the world of archiving.