2023 STHC Steering Committee Nominations

Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2023 STHC 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 Junior Co-Chair (two-year term)
• Two At-Large Steering Committee Members (three-year terms)

Ballots will be managed by SAA staff, so please keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens!

Junior Co-Chair Candidate

Stephen A. Logsdon

Head of Archives

Washington University School of Medicine

Biography

Stephen Logsdon is the Head of Archives at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.  He has been working as a medical school archivist for 15 years and has been an active member of the Society of American Archivists since 2008.  Stephen holds a BA in History from the University of Kentucky, an MLIS from Dominican University, and an MA in History from Loyola University Chicago. Additionally, he is a Certified Archivist (CA), and is currently taking courses to earn the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certification from the Society of American Archivists.  Stephen serves as the supervisor of a small staff of medical school archivists who help him oversee all aspects of archives management including collection development, processing, policy creation and maintenance, programming and outreach, cataloging, reference, physical and online exhibit curation, presentations to students and staff, class instruction, and donor relations.

Candidate Statement

I am eager to initiate and advocate for connections between STHC members and develop ideas for promoting our common areas of interest. I am particularly excited to explore ideas for events and outreach activities that promote STHC collections and institutions. I hope to encourage participation within the STCH section so that it may provide more opportunities to seek out like-minded archivists and find collaborators for our initiatives. I will work with the leadership team to provide the support, programming, and sense of community needed to maintain an active and vibrant section. As your junior co-chair, I look forward to working with you throughout the next two years to support one another and advocate for our shared goals.

Steering Committee Member Candidates

Member At-Large 1

Julia Pope

Senior Archivist

Henry Ford Health System

Biography

Julia Pope has been the Senior Archivist at the Conrad R. Lam Archives of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan since 2015. Previously she worked as a reference and instruction librarian at Oakland University and as a processing archivist at Eastern Michigan University. Julia holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Wayne State University, with a specialization in archives. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in medieval history from Concordia University, Montreal, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from McGill University, Montreal. Prior to entering the archival field, she worked as a paleographer for the Records of Early English Drama project at the University of Toronto.She has completed several courses in book conservation and repair, including a certificate from the Canadian Book Binders and Book Artists' Guild in 2019. Her interests include medical archives, accessibility and digital preservation, and book conservation.

Candidate Statement

As a member of the STHC steering committee, she would continue to engage with the other members of the committee to advance the goals of the section, to help foster a supportive and inclusive atmosphere where diverse perspectives can be heard, and to build stronger connections within the archival community so that we can learn from one another.   

Member At-Large 2

Edith Escobedo

Processing Archivist

University of California San Francisco

Biography

Edith Escobedo attended San Jose State University and graduated with a BA in History. While at SJSU, she volunteered at History San Jose where she became interested in archives. Previously, she interned with the Santa Clara County Archives and helped with the Santa Clara County Fair photo project. Edith interned at the University of California, San Francisco Archives and Special Collections while in graduate school. As an intern she worked assisting with processing collections in the NHPRC grant, Evolution of San Francisco’s Response to a Public Health Crisis: Providing Access to New AIDS History Collections, an expansion of the AIDS History Project at UCSF. Edith obtained her Masters in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University. Following graduation, she became a Processing Archivist at the University of California, San Francisco Archives and Special Collections. She has processed several collections from the Tobacco Control Archives, Anesthesia collection, AIDS History Project collections, Biotechnology Archives, and University Archives. She has processed collections such as the Laurie Garrett Papers, Arthur E. Guedel Anesthesia Collection, and J. Michael Bishop Papers.

Candidate Statement

She is interested in a leadership position within the Steering Committee of the Science, Technology, and Health Care (STHC) section of the Society of American Archivists (SAA). From 2019-2020, she served in the Librarians Association of the University of California Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as the UC San Francisco representative. Her involvement included reviewing a UC wide diversity, equity, and inclusion survey and working with the other UC representatives on identifying future projects. As a member of the Steering Committee, she will use her experience to promote and foster diversity within the STHC and SAA. She believes this would be a great opportunity to learn and collaborate with colleagues from other institutions to gain new skills while assisting with special and research projects. Also, this opportunity will enable her to develop new networks with colleagues in the profession. This position will be a great learning experience and she hopes to use these new skills attained in her work and for the benefit of the profession.