Call for WAR nominations

It's election time! The Women Archivists Roundtable is electing one co-chair and up to five steering committee members in 2013. 

The co-chair will serve a two-year term, followed by one year on the steering committee. The steering committee members will serve three-year terms. Terms begin this August at the close of the SAA meeting in New Orleans. You do not need to attend the meeting to be elected!

Sections conduct their annual elections via an online ballot system provided by SAA. Online ballots will be made accessible during the first week of July and shall remain open for two weeks.  Results will be announced at the Women Archivists Roundtable Meeting in New Orleans.

CANDIDATE STATEMENT - Co-Chair

Alexandra Orchard

I have served as a Steering Committee Member of the Women Archivists Roundtable for the last year and would be thrilled to extend my commitment and service to the Women Archivists Roundtable by serving as Co-Chair. Presently I am the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Archivist at Wayne State University's Reuther Library. I received my MLIS and Archival Administration Certificate from Wayne State University in summer 2012. My research interests include labor history, women's studies, pop culture, and archival theory and technologies. Before finding archival bliss, I obtained a BFA in Art and BA in English from Wayne State University and later worked as a user experience designer.

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS - Steering Committee

Bethany Anderson

I am currently a Visiting Archival Operations and Reference Specialist in the University Archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to Illinois, I worked at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin and the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan. I received my master’s in Information Studies with a concentration in Archival Studies and Records Management from UT Austin, a master’s in Near Eastern Art and Archaeology from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. 

I am interested in serving as a Steering Committee member for the Women Archivists Roundtable because I believe that WAR is an incredible resource and forum for women archivists. As a Steering Committee member, I hope to further discussions on the status of women in the profession, especially those relating to equitable advancement and development opportunities in the workplace, balancing family and work life, and leadership positions in SAA.  We will only begin to fully understand the issues that we need to start addressing by continuing to highlight the accomplishments of women within the profession and by discussing meaningful solutions to the challenges we still face. 

Courtney Dean

My name is Courtney Dean and I'm a newly minted MLIS from UCLA. I've processed several collections from the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, as well as done extensive work around zine collections, and I'm interested not only in preserving voices too often discounted from the historical record, but in the role women archivists can play in mediating this process. I am excited by the great work the women's roundtables have been engaged in, such as the WAR Survey and the upcoming Symposium on Women's Archives (which I'll be presenting at!), and I would love to be able to contribute to future activities and endeavors by serving as a steering committee member. 

Heather Dean

Bio: Heather Dean is an Archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, where she processes literary archives, serves on the reference desk, and teaches bibliographic instruction.  Heather received her Master of Archival Studies and Master of Library and Information Studies degrees from the University of British Columbia in 2006.   

Candidate Statement: I would like to serve on the Steering Committee for the Women Archivists Roundtable because of my interest in promoting women within the archives profession, particularly in management and leadership positions.  In addition, I would like to explore issues relevant to working parents, including an analysis of maternity leave policies across institutions and how SAA’s annual meeting can better accommodate parents with young children.

Christine Anne George

Greetings fellow WAR members. My name is Christine Anne George and I am running to be a member of the Steering Committee. I am running because I would like to see the Roundtable take on projects to highlight notable women in the archives profession. One thing I think would be interesting would be to do something similar to the Women of Library History tumblr that ALA’s Feminist Task Force did for Women’s History Month. Thanks for taking the time to consider me!

Christine Anne George received her BA from Bard College, her JD from St. John’s University School of Law, and her MSIS from the University of Texas at Austin School of Information. She currently works at the Charles B. Sears Law Library at SUNY Buffalo Law School where she serves as a faculty services and reference librarian and oversees the law library’s archives.

Teresa Hedgpeth

Brief Bio:

2012  - present:  US Olympic Committee Archivist and Historic Steward

2010-2012: Casper College Western History Center Archivist

2008-2010: Pikes Peak Community College & Regis University History Adjunct Faculty

2003-2005: Mountain Home Air Force Base Volunteer Archivist

2002- 2003: US Naval Historical Center – Naval Warfare Division  Archivist

2001-2003: National Archives – Old Military Records Archives Specialist

Candidate Statement – Having worked with government, military, regional and non-profit archives, I bring to the committee a diverse portfolio of archival experience.  My knowledge includes not only the small regional archives; but also large archives – how each functions, operates and the constraints faced by all.  As a woman, I am also passionate about assisting and fostering the growth of women within our field. 

Christina Johanningmeier 

Education and professional: I graduated from UW-Madison with a master’s in archives and records administration and currently work as an archives assistant with manuscript and visual materials collections at the Wisconsin Historical Society. I have served as chair and a member steering committee member of the Women Archivists Roundtable.

Goals and interests: As a member of the WAR steering committee, my interests are promoting advocacy for WAR’s members, particularly new members, and helping keep women’s issues part of SAA’s larger dialogue.

Helen Kim

I joined Visual Communications, an Asian American media arts nonprofit in Los Angeles, as its archivist last spring. Our collections include audiovisual materials that document the Asian Pacific American experience, including activism like anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, redress campaigns for Japanese American internees during World War II, and labor strikes for fair wages.  As the lone arranger, I wear a lot of hats-- I process and digitize collections, help patrons with reference requests, and conduct outreach activities like blogging, adding to our Historypin account, and holding workshops for the public.  I especially enjoy creating outreach materials; it makes me happy to see people get excited about archival materials!  

Since joining SAA as a graduate student, I've participated with SAA on various capacities.  I served on UT-Austin's SAA Student Chapter as Event Coordinator, helped create the SAA 75th anniversary trading cards, served as SAA's RAO social media and website liaison, and transcribed interviews for SAA Oral History Project showcasing the oral histories of past SAA presidents and leaders.  In 2011, I was honored to become a SAA Mosaic Scholar.  I'm also a member of Society of California Archivists (SCA) and looking forward to increasing my participation with SCA's Outreach and Publicity Committee.

Statement: Although our profession has no shortage of women, women still face particular issues in the workplace that are relevant to many professions. I hope to work with my peers to address issues like pay equality, maintaining a work-life balance (particularly with children and other family needs), and encouraging women to develop leadership skills and take management roles.  As a lone arranger, I'm well-acquainted with collaborating and conferring with my archival colleagues to think of and discuss new ideas and possible solutions.  I enjoy engaging in discussion about work and archival matters, and look forward to contributing my enthusiasm and experiences to SAA's Women Archivists Roundtable.

Elizabeth Myers

I am currently the director of the Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs and Wayne State University, in Detroit. Before this position, I was the director of the Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University Chicago. At LUC, I earned my PhD in 20th Century US History with minors in Public History, US/European Women's History and Gender Theory. I am deeply interested in issues affecting women in the profession, especially work-life flexibility, increasing the number of women in management positions, fair pay, and equity (anti-discrimination) in the workplace. 

Kelly Pepper

My name is Kelly Pepper and I currently work at Georgia State University Library in the Digital Projects unit as a Library Tech.  I work primarily on digitizing records from our Special Collections for online research.  I have previously worked for Ancestry.com and interned at the Carter Library and NARA Southeast.  I have a Master’s degree in Heritage Preservation with a concentration in public history and attended the Georgia Archives Institute in 2010.  I am interested in working with the Women Archivists Roundtable as a way to become more involved in the profession, meet fellow archivists and help advance women in the field.  I have been working in the archival field for four years, however this is my first year as a member of SAA, and I am eager for new opportunities to contribute.

Crystal Rodgers

As a newly entering master of library science student and archival professional with a bachelors degree in women's studies, I am always searching for ways to integrate my passion for feminism and social justice with archival work.  Participating in the Women Archivists Roundtable of SAA as a steering committee member will enable me to more directly engage with other women archivists and gender related issues.  

Crystal Rodgers is from Atlanta, Georgia and recently moved to Portland, Oregon in December of 2011.  In August 2011, she graduated with a BA in women studies with a minor in sociology from Georgia State University.  Rodgers stumbled into archival work during her senior year at GSU, hired on as a student assistant for the GSU Special Collections and Archives.  This part-time job transformed into a career path, and after graduating, she worked full time for the Southern Labor Archives at GSU.  Rodgers currently works part-time for the City of Portland Archives and Records Center as well as the OHSU Historical Collections & Archives. She will begin online classes in the fall at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Information Studies, pursuing an MLIS with a concentration in archival studies.  

Krystal Thomas

Statement: As a young professional in SAA, I think it is important to learn about the issues facing women in the profession and how best to advocate and make sure it continues to be a welcoming career for both genders. Serving on the WAR Steering Committee would provide me the opportunity to do so and in turn, help my fellow members as the profession continues to grow.

Bio: Krystal Thomas is the digital archivist at Florida State University. Prior to FSU, Thomas was the digital library coordinator at the Theodore Roosevelt Center in Dickinson, North Dakota. She received her MSI from the University of Michigan School of Information in 2009. Back before all of that, she was a Women's Studies minor with an emphasis on women's history in the early 20th century so she learned a thing or two from the suffragettes.