Archivists of Religious Collections 2022-23 Leadership Ballot

Thank you to our excellent candidates for standing in the 2022 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 for a three-year term;
• One Steering Committee member (two-year term); and 
• One Secretary

 The forthcoming election will be conducted by SAA using SurveyMonkey. 

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Candidate

The following candidate is running for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect position:

Erin Louthen

Diocese of San Jose, California

Erin Louthen is in her first weeks in a new position as the first full-time professional archivist for the Diocese of San Jose, CA. Previously, she was the University Archivist & Historical Records Manager at Santa Clara University for 12 years, where she was responsible for the management and coordination of activities in the University Archives, as well as the care and management of archival collections in the Archives & Special Collections department. Erin holds a bachelor’s degree in Modern Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MLIS from San Jose State University.

Erin is passionate about addressing the many challenges facing today’s religious archives, particularly regarding the fate of women religious archives and congregational communities reaching completion and/or closure. To that end, she has helped steward the donation of the collections of Sr. Sandra Schneiders, Professor Emeritus of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA and the Sisters of the Holy Family in Fremont, CA to Santa Clara University; and is currently serving as chair of the Archival Resources for Catholic Collections Repository Working Group (ARCC RWG). In addition, she is also serving on the SAA ARCS Models and Resources Committee, helping to support and educate religious archivists. She hopes to continue this important work by bringing the many treasures and historically significant materials extant in Diocesan archives to the forefront of both local and regional communities. As such, she would be honored to be considered for the Vice Chair position for ARCS. 

 Steering Committee Member-At-Large Candidates

The following candidates are running for the single open section steering committee Member-At-Large position:

Mary Grace Kosta (incumbent)

Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada

Mary Grace Kosta obtained her MA in linguistics and worked for 25 years as a linguist, museum registrar, government manager, and teacher. She then obtained her MLIS with a specialization in archives and has worked for many years as the Congregational Archivist for the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Archives Association of Ontario James J. Tallman award, and the Society of American Archivists Sr. Claude Lane, O.P Memorial award. She is instrumental in the delivery of archives practicum and museum cataloguing programs for students at Western University in London, Ontario.

She served as the chair of the Professional Development Committee for the Archives Association of Ontario. Presently, she serves on the steering committee for the Society of American Archivists (SAA) – Archivists of Religious Collections Section (ARCS), the SAA ARCS Models and Resources Committee, the Joint US-Canada AtoM Users Group, the NDSA Communications and Publications Working Group, the Catholic Archives Group adjudication committee, and the Association of Canadian Archivists – Special Interest Section for Archivists of Religious Organizations.

I hope to continue my work chairing the Models and Resources Committee. This committee solicits policies and processing manuals to guide other archives in developing their own materials and shares these via the ARCS microsite. The committee also promotes training for religious archivists and provides a channel for discussion via the “Lunch and Learn” and “Archival Chat” sessions. I also hope to continue to work with the ARCS Steering Committee to support religious archivists of all faith groups.

Robert Danielson, Ph.D.

Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY

For the past ten years, Dr. Robert Danielson has overseen the work of the Archives and Special Collections at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. As a Certified Archivist, he works especially in scanning and digitization projects and helping to promote the archives through publications, such as writing a regular "From the Archives" essay for each issue of The Asbury Journal for the past eight years. He also works cooperatively with the archivist in developing exhibits and exhibit materials for the Archives and Special Collections, while also publishing articles about the mission history of the Wesleyan-Holiness Movement.

In particular, he is interested in how to further the work of religious archives in accessibility through digitization and promoting collections to local communities. Since religious archives offer an unique perspective on our society and culture, they are crucial parts of understanding the diversity of our society, but also how it interacted with other peoples and cultures around the world through historical mission outreach. This is a history not just worth preserving, but also worth sharing and promoting in today's world. It is this mission which motivates my interest to contribute what I can to the ARCS steering committee.

Secretary Candidate

The following candidate is running for the office of Secretary:

Elaine Nadeau (incumbent) 

Mount St. Scholastica, Atchison, KS

I received my B.A. in history from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, and my M.A in History and M.S. in Library and Information Science: Archives Management from Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts. I am currently working on my PhD through Aberystwyth University. After I finished my master’s, I was a Peace Corps volunteer in China. My experience with archives has spanned local historical societies, historical land sites and buildings, as well as an internship at the Archdiocese of Boston Archive. I also have experience working in public and school libraries. I am currently the archivist at Mount St. Scholastica Monastery and for the Federation of St. Scholastica. 

My hope is that we can continue to provide, and improve, the offerings of the ARCS section to meet the needs and desires of our membership. I would also like to encourage more activity within our section, more diversity of thought and experiences, to benefit all of us moving forward.