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Biography: Elizabeth began her career in museums and archives in Florida after earning BAs in History and Political Science and an MA in History with a graduate minor in Public Administration. She worked for a small historical society first, learning basic collections management and cataloging methods. She then went on to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum as the Education and Oral History Director. She managed the oral history program, the oral history collection, the education program, and the non-accessioned education collection. She then moved to the National Archives and Records Administration at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum as an Education Specialist in 2013. She is the chair and founder of the National Archives and Records Administration's Women's Affinity Group (WAG) and is very active in archival outreach and education for all age groups.
Statement of Interest: There is an inexplicable gender wage gap in archives and museums, proven over and over in wage studies. While women dominate the fields of archives and museum, they are underrepresented in management and, sadly, historic interpretation of the collections. Many women across the country lose their jobs in museums and archives when they take time for maternity leave because there is a lack of FMLA protections in small institutions. This is unacceptable and one of the many factors preventing women from attaining higher salaries and management positions.
There are so many things to be disappointed about, but at the same time women have come so far. I believe we are on the cusp of great change for family leave and equal pay, but we need to keep pushing. I would be honored to serve the committee to continue fighting for better representation of women in historic interpretation, promotion of women in archives, equal pay, and fair family leave- even at institutions without FMLA protections. Together we can accomplish more and reach even further.
Biography: Danielle Russell is the Archives Assistant at the Southern Maryland Studies Center, an archival repository and research center that seeks to collect, preserve, and provide access to materials that document the history and culture of Southern Maryland. As one of the two professional archivists on staff, she is able to partake in a variety of projects that include ArchivesSpace implementation, reprocessing collections, and grant writing. She is also the Co-Founder of the Women's March on Washington Archives Project, coordinating the physical materials and digital photography aspects. This project has further inspired her research in archival activism and intersectional feminist theory. She holds an M.S. in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Archival Management from Simmons College, and a B.A. in History and Archaeology from Lycoming College.
Statement of Interest: It is my passion to ensure the preservation of marginalized voices, especially regarding the politics, rhetoric, and legislation born of our intensely controversial contemporary political climate. I once read that the archive is a great historical laboratory where all theories and their results are played out, and I want to be a part of shaping that. Thanks to reading the work of Terry Cook in grad school, I possess a firm belief that archivists actively shape documentary heritage to reflect the broad spectrum of human experience, and that marginalized voices and experiences have been overlooked, both intentionally and unintentionally, in the archival record. We must work towards documentation efforts that present a comprehensive image of society that includes public hopes and dreams, frustrations and failures, and activities and movements, all preserved in their original voices.
As archivists, we are not lofty, impartial caretakers, but socially conditioned, subjective humans who must try to be very transparent in our work. I mention this because we, as archivists, leave our finger prints on the collections that we touch. Thus, in the spirit of full disclosure: I am a feminist. I aspire to embody intersectional feminism, and I am devouring books and articles on how to be a better activist and archivist for all of the issues-- civil rights, disability rights, ending violence, environmental justice, immigrant rights, LGBTQIA rights, reproductive rights, worker’s rights, etc.-- which are, in the end, women's issues. I believe I can use this passion in a leadership role with the Women Archivists Section to advocate for our voices and our fingerprints in the profession, through expanding on the First Friday Feminism project and exploring the ways the section and its members can better advocate professionally for the missing views and histories in our collections. My experiences with the current co-chairs and steering committee have led me to value the insight of this section and its members both personally and professionally, and I hope that I can build on that foundation if chosen as Co-Chair.
Biography: Lori Dedeyan is a Processing Archivist at The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, where she works to increase access to collections across a variety of subject areas and formats and manages web archiving activities. She is an active member of Society of American Archivists and a current member of the Issues and Advocacy General News Media Research Team. Lori enjoys blending her background in art and writing with her archival work to create physical and online exhibits, written content, and to find other ways to creatively share and promote archival holdings and issues. She earned her MLIS from UCLA in 2014 and has previously worked as an archivist at UCLA Library Special Collections.
Statement of Interest: I am interested in serving on the Women Archivists Section Steering Committee because I would like to continue to learn from and contribute to the professional conversation around the experiences and needs of women archivists, and to support WArS in developing resources that further allow women archivists to advocate for themselves and their colleagues. To that end, I am appreciative of the work WArS has done and is doing to create a body of literature and evidence around these issues. I would also like to participate in the work of revisiting and critically examining some of the assumptions of archival practice. I consider this a great opportunity to meaningfully contribute to SAA and our profession and believe that my experience would help me accomplish that effectively in this position.
Biography: Mary Jo Fairchild is the Manager of Research Services in the Special Collections Department at the College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library. Prior to arriving at the College of Charleston in 2015, Fairchild was the Director of Archives and Research at the South Carolina Historical Society for nearly five years. Fairchild holds master’s degrees in History and Library Science and is a Certified Archivist. She has served as President of the South Carolina Archival Association (SCAA) and the Charleston Council on Archives, Libraries, and Museums (CALM). A member of the Archives Leadership Institute’s 2014 cohort, Fairchild also contributes to the Society of American Archivist’s Regional Archival Associations Consortium (RAAC) and the Southern Association of Women Historians’ (SAWH) Professional Development Committee. A native of West Virginia, Fairchild enjoys weekend adventures outdoors with her two daughters.
Statement of Interest: My devotion to the archival profession extends beyond striving to uphold high standards for essential functions such as reference, access, outreach, arrangement, description, and ethics; I am committed to articulating and enhancing the values placed on the labors of women archivists in order to foster a thriving and inclusive professional landscape. As an archivist, I am dedicated to transparency and broad access to resources, diversifying the historic record, and disrupting institutional systems which privilege and oppress persons based on socio-cultural, racial, and gender identities. I am eager to join the WArS steering committee to serve and collaboratively bring to fruition the essential dialogues the section facilitates through programming, twitter chats, interviews, networking, surveys, and so much more.
Biography: Heather Fox is the Archivist for Manuscript Collections and the Co-Director for the Oral History Center in the University of Louisville Archives & Special Collections. She has worked for several esteemed Kentucky archival institutions including the Kentucky Oral History Commission, The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, The Filson Historical Society and Appalshop, an internationally known a media arts center in Eastern Kentucky. Fox is one of the founding team members of the Louisville Underground Music Archive collection, a project documenting the punk, indie, hardcore scene in Louisville, Kentucky. She has recently become a cat person to the mild consternation of her dog.
Statement of Interest: I am a natural communicator and connector and would welcome this opportunity to use these skills to advance the initiatives of the WARS. I currently serve as chair of the Campus Climate Committee of the Commission on the Status of Women at the University of Louisville, a group appointed by the university president that monitors and advises him (yes, always a him so far) on ways the administration can improve work-life balance, create a safer work environment for all employees, and increase opportunities for women in leadership roles on campus. I would love the chance to bring the knowledge I have gained on COSW to WARS.
Biography: Erin Glasco is the Archives Intern at the Roosevelt University Archives in Chicago, IL. Erin will receive her MLIS with a concentration in Archives from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in August 2017. Prior to her time at Roosevelt, Erin interned at the Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) at Columbia College Chicago. While working at the CBMR, Erin became engaged with one of the Center’s most interesting holdings: the FBI files of noted artist and activist, Paul Robeson. Erin curated a small exhibit about the FBI’s surveillance of Robeson at the CBMR, and presented a poster on her research titled, “Paul Robeson and the Black Lives Matter Movement: Anti-Black Violence and Surveillance in the United States, Ca.1940-present” at SAA in July 2016. Erin is a 2016-2018 ARL/SAA Mosaic Fellow, and an article she co-authored, “Black Music Literacy: Classic Edition” will be featured in the forthcoming anthology, "Information Literacy in Music: An Instructor’s Companion."
Statement of Interest: I am attracted to a career in archives because I appreciate the power that archives hold in shaping history, fostering and facilitating community, strengthening personal identity, and, naturally, encouraging scholarship. I’m interested in serving on the steering committee because I would like to continue the work that WArS has done to encourage archives and archivists to be more intersectional in their praxis. Women make up the vast majority of our profession, and I believe we have the power to make lasting, needed changes to our field. I want women, regardless of race, class, sexuality, or ability, to feel welcome and supported in our field. I’m hopeful that my time on the steering committee will be spent working meaningfully towards that goal.
Biography: Gayle Schechter graduated from Simmons College in Boston this past May with her MS with a concentration in Archives Management. In addition to her current positions as Project Archivist at Fenway High School, Library Assistant at Bay State College, and Digital Projects Intern at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Gayle has been serving as the 2016-2017 intern for WArS, with her term ending in July. In her free time she enjoys reading, museums, seeing live music and comedy, and spending time outside with her dog.
Florence M. Turcotte
Biography:
Education: B.S., Romance Languages and M.A. Liberal Studies, Georgetown University, M.L.I.S., University of South Florida Modern Archives Institute
Professional Experience: Literary Manuscripts Archivist in Special Collections at the University of Florida, 2005-present; Co-Instructor, Preserving History: An Internship in Historical Archives (HIS 4944) for History majors, 2006-present SAA Participation Reference, Access and Outreach (RAO) Section, 2005-Present, Primary Sources Working Group, 2011-present; presented on an RAO-endorsed panel on engagement and outreach assessment at 2011 SAA conference. Manuscript Repositories Section, 2005-present. Steering Committee, 2012-14. LAGAR (Lesbian and Gay Archives Roundtable), 2005-present, Co-Chair, 2011-2013, Steering Committee, 2009-present, Chair, LAGAR Taskforce on Bylaws Revision, 2009-10. Women Archivists (Roundtable) Section, 2005 - Present. Other Activities Society of Florida Archivists, Member, 2005-present, Vice-President, 2012-present, Director, 2009-2012, Chair, Nominating Committee, 2007-2008. Conference paper: "Selling Wholesomeness: Images of Women from the Florida Citrus Industry". As part of a panel entitled "You've come a Long Way, Baby: Images of Women in Advertising". Society of American Archivists, Cleveland, OH, August 21, 2015.
Statement of Interest: I have been interested in Women-identified archives and archivists since my career in archives started in 2005. I curate Women's collections at the University of Florida,, including the literary manuscripts of Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, as well as the records of women's groups such as the Florida National Organization of Women (Florida NOW), the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs, Gainesville Women for Equal Rights (GWER), the League of Women Voters of Florida.
I believe that I can contribute to the mission of this Section in a meaningful way and would appreciate your support. Thank you.
Biography: My name is Ashlyn Velte I am currently the Archivist at the University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives. I received my MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2016 where I also received a Certificate in Digital Curation. In my current role at the University of Idaho I am building a born-digital collecting program involving acquisition, digital preservation, and access for born-digital materials received by our special collections and university archives. I also help the department host outreach events, answer reference questions, and teach instruction sessions. I first became interested in archives while I worked in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC’s Wilson Library during grad school. Working to acquire and promote collections documenting the experiences of historically under-represented groups, such as African Americans, Native Americans, and women, impressed on me the importance and power of archives.
Statement of Interest: I am interested in becoming a steering committee member for WAR because I want to support female professionals in this field. I want to take a more active role in WAR so that I can help further discussions about issues faced by women in archives. As a new professional myself, I want to support other women entering the field by facilitating dialogues about our experience and empower them to seek out leadership roles in the profession. The work WAR does is very important to SAA and to the archival profession. Since this roundtable supports many important initiatives, like the current salary survey, I’d be honored to be part of the leadership that contributes to these important initiatives.