WArS candidates for 2019

The Women Archivists Section will be experiencing a great deal of turnover this year--we will be voting for four steering committee member positions and one co-chair position. I'm very pleased to introduce you to the 12 awesome archivists who have stepped up to add their experience and energy to our section. Below are their bios and statements of what they bring to our section. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Jessica Dowd Crouch (an AMAZING co-chair!) for her service this year as she gamely volunteered for a one-year term as co-chair, as well as committee members Amanda Leinberger, Katie Nash, Elizabeth Skene, and Anna Trammell for their service over the past three years. And a special thank you to Stacie Williams who, as the past chair, has patiently and kindly guided two newbie co-chairs over the past year.

We're looking forward to seeing you at the Women Archivists Section meeting on Saturday, August 3 at 3:15pm. We have an exciting program planned for you!

-Carol Street, WArS co-chair (2018-2020)

2019 Slate of Candidates

Co-Chair

kYmberly Keeton

kYmberly Keeton is the African American Community Archivist & Librarian at Austin Public Library. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, she is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Master’s in Library Science (& awarded a Graduate Certificate in Digital Content Management) and holds a B.A. in English-Creative Writing from theUniversity of Houston with a minor in African-American Studies (& awarded a Baccalaureate Degree with Honors in English-Creative Writing & the Graduate Certificate in African American Studies). Additionally, Keeton is a Fellow of the UNT Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Program and a member of Beta Phi Mu International Library & Information Studies Honor Society and a member of the University of the Houston’s Honors College. Keeton, in 2014 began her professional career in academic librarianship at Lincoln University, a Historically Black College University in Jefferson City, Missouri. She accepted a position at the Austin Public Library in August 2018 as the African American Community Archivist & Librarian. Keeton’s work is about forming collaborative partnerships, building relationships with the community, and collecting, archiving, and sharing experiences about Austin’s African American History in the state capitol. Keeton has written numerous scholarly articles and is currently writing a scholarly book about African American art & creative librarians as social advocates for change from the south.

Steering Committee candidates (alphabetically by first name)

Anjelica N. Ruiz

Anjelica N. Ruiz is the Director of Libraries and Archives at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas, where she also teaches Judaica to fourth graders on Sunday mornings. She has previously worked at the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas in the Center for Jewish Education and the donor services department. She holds a M.S. in library science from the University of North Texas; a M.S. in criminal justice from Texas State University; and a B.A. in criminology from St. Edward’s University.

I came into my current role after the archives had been unstaffed for three years. As a result, I had to hit the ground running, which has been full of challenges, especially as Temple’s 150th anniversary is just around the corner. I have been involved at Temple since 2011 and converted to Judaism in 2013, so to be able to combine my love of Temple and my desire to maintain its history has been a dream come true. I bring a unique perspective as a woman archivist that is also a lone arranger over a religious archives and a dedication to the profession that results in me finding any sort of professional development opportunity in order to become a better archivist.

 April K. Anderson-Zorn

April K. Anderson-Zorn is the university archivist for Illinois State University. Anderson-Zorn earned an MLIS from FL State University and history MA from the University of Central FL. She is a certified archivist and holds a DAS certificate.

My archival training was thanks to a dedicated group of women who made sure I had the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed as an archivist. I am now lucky enough to give back to future women archivists who are looking for training, advice, or a friendly colleague-in-arms. As a steering committee member, I would have the opportunity to also give back to a section who has helped me through my career, and who continues to help me guide a new generation of women archivists. I believe the work done by this section, including the 2017 Salary Survey, has been some of the most important work done by SAA members in recent years. Thanks to a grant by the SAA Foundation, my college Eric Willey and I will have the opportunity to document some of this work by creating Wikipedia pages about significant women archivists and archivist of color in our profession. I would like to participate in future WArS work and continue the dialogue of equality and inclusivity for all archivists.

Charmaine Bonner

My name is Charmaine Bonner and I am an archivist and genealogist. I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and always had a budding interest in history. I went to Grambling State University for my undergraduate studies and worked in a library work study position that inspired me to pursue librarianship. Initially, I was interested in becoming a Children’s librarian because of my undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education. 

I enrolled at North Carolina Central University for graduate school and my coursework enlightened me to further possibilities in the field.  I decided to switch my concentration to Archives and Records Management and had the opportunity to work in archives as the 2015-2016 SNCC Digital Gateway Project Intern at Duke University.  My experiences working on the SNCC Digital Gateway Project taught me about the dynamics between the academy and activists as well as the importance of fostering real connections to the community.  After I graduated from Library School, I worked as the Visiting Archivist for African American Collections at Emory University from 2016 to 2018. In this capacity, I was able to use my knowledge of African American history in my work in reference, processing and library programming. 

Currently, I am the Processing Archivist at Arizona State University and I am working behind the scenes serving as collaborator with my colleagues on the front line, making sure our collections accessible to all and are receiving the best care. I still enjoy working with the community on my own time and have a passion for helping others find out more about their family history.

Thank you all for considering me for the Women Archivists Section Committee. I’m excited to get to work with and provide support to my fellow women archivists.

Christine Sharbrough

Christine Sharbrough began her archival career 14 years ago at the Cyrus E Dallin Art Museum. As a new museum, she had the opportunity to set up the archives. In addition to the sculpture, paintings and photos provenance and preservation, she processed the personal papers of Rell G Francis, the biographer for Cyrus Dallin. This project provided an opportunity to use her BA in Art History and Legal Studies and her MSLIS Archival Concentration from Drexel University. Subsequently all of her library positions included caring for, arranging and describing their local history collections. Her experience culminated in her current position as the Manager of the Dallas History & Archives and Rare Books Divisions of the Dallas Public Library. In this position, she is tasked with the care of the Dunlap copy of The Declaration of Independence, Shakespeare’s first folio, and collections of early Texas founding documents, iconic businesses like Neiman Marcus, and architect James Pratt.

I am dedicated to helping women succeed in this field and mentoring the next generation of female archivists.

Ida Mangum

Ida Lucille Mangum is currently the Assistant Archivist at the University of Kentucky’s Special Collections Research Center. She has worked in many roles at UK SCRC, as well as a lone arranger for Liberty Hall Historic Site (Frankfort, Ky) and the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion (St. Louis, Mo). She has a M.L.I.S. from the University of Kentucky and a B.A. in History from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. With colleagues, she organized the first Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon in Kentucky, as well as led workshops on cataloging and preserving queer zine collections.

As an early career archivist, I appreciated the Women Archivists Section encouragement to involve women at all levels and in all functions of SAA. I am particularly interested in supporting archivists from smaller institutions or earning lower incomes access resources and finding more ways to be involved in professional development opportunities. It would be an honor to serve on the WArS Steering Committee and help with current issues affecting women in the field today.

Jessica Dowd Crouch

Jessica Crouch is the Community Engagement Coordinator for ArchivesSpace and former co-chair of the Women Archivists Section of SAA. Prior to her appointment with ArchivesSpace, Jessica was the faculty archivist in the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collection at the University of South Carolina. Jessica holds an MLIS from the University of South Carolina and a BA in History from Wofford College. Jessica also received her Digital Archives Specialist certificate from the Society of American Archivists in 2018.

Having previously served as the co-chair of the Women Archivists Section, Jessica knows the important work the section does of developing a strong community of archivists and to highlight issues of particular interest to women, like the salary data survey conducted in 2016. In her current position, Jessica works to engage archivists around the world and would like to use this experience to better engage the women in this section to accomplish common goals, including creating an archival profession that is more inclusive and diverse. In her former position at the University of South Carolina, Jessica supervised numerous interns, student workers and temporary staff and is particularly interested in the inequity of pay, benefits and respect within archives and academic settings. She hopes to see this section become a louder voice within SAA, enacting intersectional change and highlighting inequality, not just on behalf of women in the profession, but all marginalized voices.

Jolene Kennah

My name is Jolene Kennah, and I have a BA in History and my MLIS from the University of Washington. I'm currently a Congressional Papers Archivist / Outreach Coordinator at the Ted Stevens Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska. I'm relatively new to archives and have been in the profession since 2017.

I'm passionate about equality for everyone (regardless of race, gender, sex, orientation, everything possible), and would strive to ensure that Women Archivists are being given equal representation and opportunities within our profession. For me, this would include things such as making sure SAA doesn't have any 'manels' (or panels comprised 100% of men) and that the WArS' outreach includes efforts to recruit and encourage sustainability for women's employment within the archival world.

Kim Larmee

Kim is receiving her MILS from the University of Iowa in August 2019 and holds a BA from Indiana University with a major in criminal justice and a minor in history. In addition, she holds a certificate in preservation from the San Gemini Preservation Institute in San Gemini, Italy. Kim has over 30 years of professional experience in fund raising, administration and computer and project management in both non-profit organizations and corporations. Kim completed an internship in the digital division of the Archives for American Art at the Smithsonian Institution and is currently working at the Iowa Women’s Archive at the University of Iowa Libraries.

Kim has spent many years facilitating cohesive solutions among divergent individuals and groups that create a consensus on difficult issues. Working with Planned Parenthood, AIDS Action Foundation, Easter Seal Society for Disabled Children and Adults and other organizations, she has developed advocacy and negotiation skills that will help WArS move forward in pushing for pay equity, diversity in archive staffing and better representation of women and other marginalized groups in the stacks.

Maureen Cech

Maureen Cech is the University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at Misericordia University, a former women’s college in Dallas, Pennsylvania, founded in 1924 by the Sisters of Mercy. Prior to starting at Misericordia in 2016, she worked at the University of Delaware and the University of Maryland, College, Park, where she was responsible for accessioning, processing, and collections management, as well as public services including teaching and exhibit curation. She has most recently published on using inquiry-based learning and primary source literacy.

Maureen brings to WArS a keen interest in promoting women’s collections and understanding the roles women occupy in archival spaces. She is committed to advocating for opportunities for women in management positions and leadership roles. ​

Michelle Ganz

Michelle Ganz is the Archives Director for William McDonough, in Charlottesville VA. Michelle attended the University of Arizona where she completed her Masters of Library Science degree in 2007. She completed her undergraduate degree at the Ohio State University, receiving a B.A. in Literature in 2003. In 2008 Michelle received her Archivist Certification. Michelle is an active member with the SAA and ACA, serving in a number of elected and volunteer positions. When she’s not doing all things archival she enjoys reading and cooking.

I have been a longtime member of the WAR section I turned to the section for support and guidance throughout my career. As a vocal advocate for woman, poc, and disabled archivists it is important to me to be able help people find their voice in the SAA. The WAR section has always been a supportive, safe space for me that helped me develop my own voice. And I want to help I would love the opportunity to help the Section continue to support its members.

Rosemary K. J. Davis

Rosemary K. J. Davis currently works as Accessioning Archivist for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Prior to her work at the Beinecke, Rosemary processed the Samuel French Collection at Amherst College, riot grrrl collections at the Fales Library at NYU, exhibition records at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Jazz Loft oral histories at Duke’s Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. She received her MSLIS + Archives certificate from Pratt Institute, her BA with concentrations in Art History + Writing from the New School, and was awarded an IMLS-RBS Fellowship for Early-Career Librarians in 2015. Currently, she serves as a member of Society of American Archivists’ Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct, as Co-chair for the New England Archivists’ Inclusion and Diversity Committee, and as Managing Editor for the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies.

After working to help develop the New England Archivists Code of Conduct in 2016, I became more acutely interested in contributing my energies and expertise toward cultivating safe, supportive professional environments that fully represent the complete spectrum of people performing archival labor. The opportunity to serve on the SAA WArS Steering Committee provides a chance for me to collaborate with other individuals striving to deconstruct oppressive systems that place limitations on members of our profession because of their identity, status, or experience level. Working with other members of WArS, I'd like take part in a concerted, collective endeavor to ensure transparency, safety, and empathy are built into this organization’s operations on every level.

Rosie Yanosko

My name is Rosie Yanosko and I live in Portland, Oregon. About a year ago I graduated with my MLIS from the University of Maryland with a specialization in Diversity & Inclusion. I recently accepted a grant funded Processing Archivist position at Willamette University, where I’ll be working with the Chuck Williams Activist Papers and Photograph Collection. I love working with manuscripts and photographs and am passionate about uncovering and rectifying accessibility issues digital collections.

Over the past five years, I’ve worked, volunteered, and interned in many archives, museums, and libraries. Not only have these experiences deepened my ability to engage and work with people from all walks of life, it’s given me valuable insights into archival policy and practice. I believe these skills, along with my understanding of accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity issues in archives, will prove valuable to the Women Archivists Section Committee.