Sister M. Claude Lane, OP, Memorial Award: Ellen Pierce

Ellen Pierce, archival consultant for the Dominican Sisters and other Religious Congregations, is the 2020 recipient of the Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in conjunction with the Society of Southwest Archivists. The award honors an archivist who has made a significant contribution to the field of religious archives.

Ellen’s dedication and devotion to religious archives is inspiring. She is knowledgeable about the science and practice of archives and has the ability to explain this to those who are not trained as archivists. Her ability to communicate complex archival ideas to various audiences within and without the archival community has made her a highly sought after consultant. Pierce helped build the Maryknoll Mission Archives, ultimately becoming Director until her retirement in 2017. Her contribution to preserving Catholic history culminated in presentations at the American Catholic Historical Association, ACWR and the Boston College Conference where her expertise inspired others to continue historic preservation of religious archives.

Her nominator said, “It is no small thing to be able to foster change in the methods of collecting, organizing and preserving the stories of women who have a high sense of ownership of this information.”