F. Gerald Ham and Elsie Ham Scholarship: Alexandra M. Wilder

Alexandra M. Wilder, a graduate student in the archives concentration of the library and information science program at Drexel University’s College of Computing and Informatics in Philadelphia, is the 2017 recipient of the F. Gerald Ham and Elsie Ham Scholarship given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The $10,000 scholarship supports the graduate archival education of a student who is studying at a United States university program. Scholarship selection criteria include the applicant’s past performance in his or her graduate program in archival studies as well as faculty members’ assessment of the student’s prospects for contributing to the archives profession.

In addition to her strong academic record, Wilder impressed the SAA Awards Committee with her eloquent essay, “Crowdsourcing Archival Description via Flickr: Reining in Grand Expectations,” which explores whether sample photosets show evidence of crowdsourcing, and if so, how it has contributed to description and access. In her current position processing manuscript collections at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania and in her previous position at Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum and Library, Wilder has worked with a variety of audiences and media and has contributed significantly to outreach and advocacy efforts for cultural institutions. She holds a master of fine arts in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and a bachelor of arts in English literature from the University of Toronto.

Her faculty nominators noted that she “demonstrates a keen intellect and a generous spirit. She poses insightful questions . . .” and that her “written work is eloquent and conscientious, both technically and rhetorically well-developed.”