Randall C. Jimerson

Randall C. Jimerson is professor of History and director of the Graduate Program in Archives and Records Management at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. He is a Fellow and past president of the Society of American Archivists, and currently chairs the Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct. He is a former president of New England Archivists, which presented him the Distinguished Service Award in 1994. He is editor of American Archival Studies: Readings in Theory and Practice (SAA, 2000), and author of The Private Civil War: Popular Thought During the Sectional Conflict (LSU Press, 1988).

His current research focuses on the role of archives and archivists in society, including concepts of memory, accountability, social justice, and professional ethics. Ongoing research includes a broad study of the importance of documents and archives in American history from 1791 to 1940, and an examination of the civil rights movement in Alabama. He received the Ph.D. in American History at the University of Michigan, and began his archival career at the Bentley Historical Library. After two years as archivist at Yale University, for fifteen years he was university archivist and director of the Historical Manuscripts and Archives Department of the University of Connecticut Libraries, where he also taught and led the graduate program in History and Archival Management. He assumed his current position in 1994.