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WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul retired as archivist of the United States Senate on January 31, 2025, after nearly forty-three years of dedicated service preserving the official records and personal papers of those who serve in the legislative branch of our government; and
WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul, for more than four decades, applied archives and records management expertise to the life cycle of senate records, advising senators, staff, and committees as creators of official records and personal papers, as well as advising archival repositories as recipients of personal papers of senators; and
WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul was a lead contributor, in 1983, to the Guide to Research Collections of Former United States Senators, 1789–1982, which was published as U.S. Senate Bicentennial Publication #1 to facilitate research into the rich history of the senate, and which has since merged with the online Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; and
WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul formalized guidelines with the Records Management Handbook for United States Senators and Their Repositories as well as the Records Management Handbook for United States Senate Committees in 1985, and has regularly updated these essential publications since that time; and
WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul extended her guidance to the network of archivists on the Hill, at the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives and Records Administration, and at repositories across the country to expand the conversation of congressional papers management; and
WHEREAS, in 1986, Karen Dawley Paul was a founding member of the Congressional Papers Roundtable (later Section) of the Society of American Archivists to serve as a professional home for archivists working with congressional archives and political papers, serving continuously as an ex officio member of its Steering Committee; and
WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul co-founded and shepherded the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress since its inception in 1991, advising congressional leadership and the Archivist of the United States on the management and preservation of the records of Congress; and
WHEREAS, in 1992, Karen Dawley Paul was project director for the Congressional Papers Roundtable Task Force and led publication of The Documentation of Congress, a groundbreaking documentation strategy to collect sources and promote research in the legislative process, political activities, external relations, and administrative work of government offices; and
WHEREAS, in 2004, Karen Dawley Paul was a founding member of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress and served continuously as an ex officio member of its executive committee, to support its mission to inform and educate students, scholars, historians, political scientists, policy-makers, and members of the general public on the history of Congress, legislative process, current issues facing Congress, and to promote the preservation of materials that document the work of Congress; and
WHEREAS, in 2009, Karen Dawley Paul was co-editor of the Waldo Gifford Leland Award-winning book An American Political Archives Reader; and
WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul has been a gracious, diplomatic, generous, and ever-helpful colleague to archivists in regional and national associations, serving in numerous leadership positions and collaborating on projects and publications to advance the professional work of collecting, preserving, managing, and using congressional collections; and
WHEREAS, Karen Dawley Paul has personally mentored many in the congressional papers field, encouraging and supporting emerging archival professionals;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Karen Dawley Paul be honored with a 2025 Council Exemplary Service Award from the Society of American Archivists for her superior and sustained record of dedication, passion, and commitment to the archival profession, promoting the value of the legislative records of Congress, and advocating for their preservation and use of these archives by researchers and the American people to better understand the development of public policy, the obligations of government, and our national history.