Fellow of SAA: Herbert Hartsook

Herbert J. Hartsook, Director of South Carolina Political Collections at the University of South Carolina Libraries, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during a ceremony at the Joint Annual Meeting of SAA and the Council of State Archivists in Atlanta, July 31–August 6. The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.

At the University of South Carolina, Hartsook has created a model repository for congressional and other collections documenting modern government, politics and society.  Over one hundred and twenty collections include the papers of members of Congress, governors, leaders in the state legislature, and organizations including the Democratic and Republican state parties and the League of Women Voters. 

In addition to being an innovative manager of manuscript collections and a prolific fundraiser, Hartsook lectures on archival management, development, and donor relations, and co-developed and presented a popular workshop with Cynthia Pease Miller titled, “The Acquisition, Processing, and Reference of Legislative Collections.” 

Hartsook’s students have become leaders in archival repositories and professional associations. He has also contributed to the archival literature. He participated in the group that created the NHPRC-funded book, Managing Congressional Collections, which was published by SAA in 2008. His 2001 Archival Issues article, “By Fair Means If You Can: A Case Study for Raising Private Monies to Support Archival Programs,” is considered a classic. 

Within SAA he has held various leadership positions in the Government Affairs Working Group, the Congressional Papers Roundtable, the Oral History Section, the Manuscript Repositories Section, and on two Appointment Committees. 

As his supporters noted, Hartsook “stands tall as a teacher and mentor. . . . In his quiet and unassuming manner, he leads us to think deeply, analyze more rigorously, understand more perceptively, and question more astutely.”