2023 Nominees for ARCS Steering Committee

Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2023 Archivists of Religious Collections Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.

You will be voting for:

  • One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (or Co-chair), for a two-year term

  • Two Steering Committee members (three-year terms)

Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens!

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Candidates

The following candidate is running for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (or Co-chair) position:

Beaudry Rae Allen
Digital and Preservation Archivist, Villanova University

Beaudry Rae Allen (she/her) is currently the Preservation and Digital Archivist for Villanova University and is responsible for the collection management, disaster preparedness, and born-digital preservation since 2018. Previously, she was an archivist responsible for processing collections from the American Religions Collection at University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition, she serves on the organizing group of A4BLiP (Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia) as well as the co-chair of the DEI committee of PACSCL (Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries). She has a Masters in Archival and Records Management from San Jose State University (2015) and Masters in European History from Villanova University (2013).

For the past couple of years I've been a Member-At-Large for ARCS Steering Committee and have been enjoying working with the steering committee and attending ARC events. As Vice-Chair I want to continue to support the section’s dedication to archival practice surrounding records of the faith experience. I would like to help foster a stronger community among the section through expanding our knowledge base and resource sharing. In particular, I'd like to devote more time to supporting the exemplary work of Model and Resources highlighting diverse voices and advocate members take on leadership roles within the section.

Steering Committee Member Candidates

The following candidates are running for the section steering committee:

Trevor Alvord
Curator, 21st Century Latter Day Saint Movements and Western Americana at Brigham Young University

As far as I am concerned there is not greater profession in the world then being an archivist. To be a part of the historical process by preserving culture, knowledge, and experience is an honor that I do not take lightly. I love what I do and the community that helps me continually improve. That is why I am seeking this role, to help support the good work we as archivists engage in. Previously I have served SAA through the Web Archiving Section, the Archival History Section, and on awards committees. 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.

Trevor Alvord has been the curator of 21st-century Latter Day Movements 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 Utah State University 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 previously for one year.

Rhiannon Allen-Roberts
Associate Archivist at the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives

Rhiannon Allen-Roberts earned her Bachelor of Arts in art history at Queen’s University. She spent time as an intern at the Venice Biennale in Italy and worked as a historical interpreter at Fort Henry, a UNESCO site in Kingston, Ontario. She recently completed a Master of Library and Information Sciences program at Western University, during which she completed an eight-month co-op at Western University’s Archives and Special Collections. She is a member of the Archives Association of Ontario where she is chair of the Student and New Professional Outreach Committee. She is also a member of the Society of American Archivists and the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild.