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The Society of American Archivists, through its Council or Executive Committee, periodically is asked to take a position, make a statement, or take action on an issue that arises within the larger context of American society. Recent examples include the heinous murders of members of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in support of gay marriage and certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
Some SAA members believe that SAA should speak for all archivists on these types of broader social issues. SAA has been compared with the American Library Association and other organizations that choose to issue statements on social issues, whether or not related directly to the missions of those organizations.
Although some – or even most – of SAA’s leaders, members, and staff may hold similar views on social issues and matters of social justice, the organization as a whole does not have the resources or knowledge of a consensus to comment or act on every social issue that emerges. To choose to comment or act on one issue to the exclusion of others would raise concerns about how SAA reaches a decision about when to become involved and when and how the broader membership is consulted (or even polled) about their individual positions on a given social issue.
SAA will take a position, make a statement, or take other action only on issues that are related directly to archives and archival functions. SAA recognizes that social issues and archival concerns may overlap (e.g., in matters of personal privacy, access to public information, or misuse of records for political purposes). In these cases, the SAA Council or Executive Committee will consider the prudence and potential impact of becoming involved in the issue.
Members may recommend that SAA take action on an issue by following Procedures for Suggesting SAA Advocacy Action.
As an organization that values social responsibility, the public good, and the completeness of the public record and that understands the importance of advocacy, SAA encourages its members to engage with social issues to the extent that they, as individuals, are able.
Adopted by the SAA Council, August 2015.
"As the statement notes, archivists are free to do advocacy on our own time -- and noble souls have, and do! -- but the whole point of joining SAA is to be able to effect change as a body, not as voices in the wilderness. It's galling to endure a year of exhortations to speak out for archives, and then at the end of the year be stonewalled: what is institutional speech for, then? "
I think this point is well-taken. Some among us do believe that the professional organization that represents us has a responsibility (after all, the statement says outright that SAA "values social responsibility", although I'm not sure just what that means beyond boilerplate in this instance) to be a voice for change and for direct advocacy. Certainly we're not capable of commenting as an organization on every possible social or political issue that comes up - no group ever can - but for those of us for whom 'archivist' is a deep and abiding part of our personal and social identities, it's a little galling that our *only* national-level professional group refuses to take stands on issues that often do have a "records component". Maybe I missed it, but I know that I, for one, am still waiting for a statement by Council on the 2011 destruction of the Occupy Wall Street Library by the New York City Police Department, an issue brought to Council's official attention in early 2012. Certainly here was an incident with direct implications for the historical record.
Thank you to the council for this wise decision. Other professional organizations should take heed. Some members feel ailenated and compelled to make excuses for the spurious positions that are sometimes taken by one's professional organization. SAA can only speak with authority on those matters within its professional scope. If we go far afield in advocacy our voice will be ignored. If you have a personal, social, religious, or political advocacy issue close to your heart which is not records and archives related, please do speak out and use the advocacy powers of the organizations for which that issue is germane.
I was way late to this conversation, but I truly don't understand how SAA can adopt a posture whereby we advocate for the "records of events" without intervening -- even from the alienated perspective of authorized institutional statements -- in the events that create records, on the ground. The last year has seen news about chain of custody, records management of government personnel, and the right to opacity, about which we have said nothing as an institution. As the statement notes, archivists are free to do advocacy on our own time -- and noble souls have, and do! -- but the whole point of joining SAA is to be able to effect change as a body, not as voices in the wilderness. It's galling to endure a year of exhortations to speak out for archives, and then at the end of the year be stonewalled: what is institutional speech for, then?
If "archives save lives" -- as Kathleen Roe has genuinely and forthrightly proclaimed all year -- the text above would require that SAA neither confirm nor deny SAA's main promotional statement.
Yours, as ever,
--ds