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Labor Archives Roundtable
Annual Report 2006-2007
December 1, 2007
Labor Archives Roundtable
Mission: The Labor Archives Roundtable promotes communication among archivists and
institutions concerned with records in the field of labor and develops cooperative
strategies and guidelines to ensure comprehensive documentation of the labor movement.
Officers, 2006-2007
Chair, Alan Stein
Vice Chair, Jordan Patty
Report from Annual Meeting
The Labor Archives Roundtable hosted its annual meeting at the Society of American
Archivists Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on August 30, 2007 with approximately 20
attendees. Highlights of the meeting included:
• The election of John Hyslop as Vice Chair/Chair-Elect
• Presentation by Larry Duncan on Labor Beat. Mr. Duncan discussed the
history of Labor Beat and showed a clip from the Labor Beat video. Mr.
Duncan also passed out copies of the video to those in attendance.
• Presentation by Leon Fink and Jeffrey Hegleson on The Labor Trial Project.
The Labor Trail is an online, interactive map of significant Labor History sites
in Chicago. Dr. Fink and Mr. Hegleson discussed the development of the
project and outreach activities associated with it.
Meeting summary and outline of projects and activities:
Labor Archives Roundtable Meeting
SAA 2007, Chicago
1) Welcome by Alan Stein, LAR 2006-2007 Chair, and agenda discussion
2) Introductions by meeting participants
3) SAA Council Liaison Announcements
A) Peter Gootleib, LAR SAA Council Liaison discussed Roundtable
changes introduced by the SAA Council
- The changes include mandatory Roundtable membership numbers and
standardization of election issues that will begin following the 2007 SAA
meeting
- The SAA Business meeting agenda included a constitutional issue on
membership and a change in the by-laws concerning dues increases - Roundtables will need to make available a Handbook/Directory that
includes by-laws and history
- Peter introduced the new LAR SAA Council Liaison, Margarie
B) Jim Cartwright from the SAA Planning Committee discussed proposals
for programs to tie in with ideas of technology, diversity, and public
awareness
- The deadline for proposals is October 12
4) Labor Archives Roundtable Reports
A) Michael Nash
- Discussed progress on “How to Keep Union Records” Project
- The project is coming to an end with all the essays being completed
- The AFL-CIO is interested in publishing in an electronic format and
perhaps with SAA in electronic and/or a print format
- The final manuscript still requires copyediting and photograph selection
B) Jim Quiggle
- Working with International Archives to establish and independent labor
group to work on human rights issues and more inclusive alignment
- Explored how business archives receive funding for travel to
international meetings
- A possible alignment for the LAR might exist with an international
social action group but probably not with a business group. Jim will
continue to follow-up with Hans Naess about this
- Barb proposed that Hans get international labor and business archives
agendas forwarded to the LAR listserv
C) Barb Morley
- A memory book is available in honor of Richard Strassberg’s retirement
from the Kheel Center for anyone who would like to make comments
- LAR listserv does not have much traffic
- Send announcements or other documents to Patrizia for LAR website
updates
- A discussion followed about increasing visibility of website
5) Labor Archives Roundtable Sessions for SAA 2008
A) Jordan Patty, LAR 2006-2007 Vice-Chair/Chair Elect
- Discussed possible session on Higgins/Social Action, UFW, and
Mexican-American archival collections
B) Other possibilities
- Poster or graphic arts collection about workers’ rights
- Digital labor collections
- Al proposed a meeting during the week to discuss other proposals for
sessions
C) Jordan mentioned LAR meeting program for SAA 2008 and invited
suggestions for possible speakers and programs
6) New Business
A) Election of LAR Vice-Chair/Chair Elect for 2007-2008
- John Hyslop nominated and elected unanimously
B) Barb proposed a three-year plan for the LAR - A smaller meeting proposed to further discuss that issue
7) Program
A) Presentation on Labor Beat by Larry Duncan
B) Presentation on The Labor Trail by Leon Fink and Jeffrey Helgeson
Meeting Adjourned
Following the annual meeting, a smaller group met for a planning discussion on August
31. For the most part, the group discussed plans for the 2008 SAA meeting in San
Francisco. Other topics discussed included the formation of a steering committee and the
redesign of the website.
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Stein, Chair, 2006-2007
Jordan Patty, Chair, 2007-2008