Minutes of the Annual Meeting, 2017
Society of American Archivists
Lesbian and Gay Archives Section/ Diverse Sexuality and Gender Section
July 26, 2017 2:30pm – 3:45pm
Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR
40 people in attendance
Old Business:
Introductions:
(We started with Pam so she could give her report and then go to another section meeting)
Pam Hackbart-Dean (Council Liaison)
- Independent Archivist Section (added)
- Membership survey – barrios and participation update
- Procedures for funding changes
- Approved two documents
Concern was expressed from the floor over the language and lack of input from this group concerning the Texas Bathroom Bill press released from SAA. (LAGAS/ DSGS was not contacted at all prior to it’s release and some of the wording was a bit clumsy and antiquated even though the overall message was well meaning.)
Introductions (Continued):
- Lisa Calahan (Outgoing co-chair)
- Nikki Thomas (Incoming co-chair)
- Keith Reynolds (Ongoing co-chair)
Standing Rules Approval
- Name change – members voted to rename LAGAS. Pending council approval the group will be called “Diverse Sexuality and Gender Section” or DSGS for short.
- Gender stipulation for co-chairs have been eliminated. (In the past the two co-chairs alternated between female identifying and male identifying each year. This will no longer be the case and anyone can run and not have to self-identify using binary gender identifiers.)
- The term “governance” is now “standing rules.”
Social Media Report (Bonnie and Debbie)
Current Facebook statistics – 1684 people currently “like” our page. Of those 1200 are from the U.S. and the remaining are from various countries all over the world.
Bob Horton gave an update on the Digital Hub for LGBTQ Collections
- Partnered with One Archives
- Meeting of interested parties in May in Washington.
- Wider set of meetings and development of technologies.
- Submitting in the fall of this year (2017) with the intention to work through in 2018
End of Old Business.
New Business:
Tragedy Response Committee/ Task Force/ Program
- This is the early stages of development but will move forward in the coming year.
- We will put out a cross call with other leadership groups and archivists that have similar goals and interests.
- This will be a collaborative effort.
- This will be informed by personal experiences of people working through tragedies.
Speakers:
- Mary Rupp – Recorded presentation about documenting the effects of two massive wildfires and a shooting in a community in Colorado.
- April Anderson – Recorded presentation about a 2015 plane crash
- David Benjamin – Live presentation about the after effects and preservation efforts of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
Comments from the floor:
- Ashley Mayner – PDF files relevant to topic
- Syracuse Pan-Am Lockerby Collection
- Virginia Tech Condolence Archive
- Boston NE University – Boston Marathon Digital Archive
- David Benjamin – Commented that he needed physical help after the Pulse shooting to help him do the work he needed to do because he was so close to the tragedy. A tool kit, articles, and information are good but actual physical assistance was what he needed most.
- What role can allies play?
- Volunteer network
- Training and best practices
- Information on deaccessioning and weeding after the fact
Meeting concluded when our available time came to an end at 3:45pm
Referenced Group Meeting:
