The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Established in 1936, the organization serves upwards of 6,200 individual and member institutions.
The society supports its members and the archival profession through publication and professional workshop programs and semi-annual meetings. Currently, workshops are given all across the United States and attend to current archival concerns and issues such as Encoded Archival Description, the digitizing of archival materials, and preservation and conservation of materials, among others. The programs it offers include: Online On-Demand Programs, Online Real Time Programs and Face to Face Programs.
History The Society of American Archivists was established in 1936 on the heels of the creation of the National Archives. The organization was born in the wake of the dissolution of the Public Archives Commission of the American Historical Association. The early days of the organization were fraught with difficulty related to membership as well as professional identity. The American Library Association created a commission on archives, which founding president Albert R. Newsome found disrespectful. There was also tension between the public archives tradition championed by Margaret Cross Norton and the historical manuscripts tradition as the governing philosophy. Public archives tradition puts emphasis on records management and administrative aspects of archival work, whereas historical manuscripts focuses more on the preservation and maintenance of important documents for research purposes. The tension and debate between the two fundamental functions of archives would continue into the 1950s, spilling into elements like elections and where to hold annual meetings.
The first issue of the society's journal, the American Archivist, appeared in 1938. In 1942, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected as an honorary member of the SAA due to his commitment to archiving federal, state and local government documents. After World War II, SAA joined with other international archivist societies to create the International Council on Archives and an archives for the United Nations. A number of committees focused on various interests of the society, including Church Records and College and University Archives. These committees helped legitimize the society, which aided them in a 1956 dispute with National Association of State Libraries over the differences between their two professions. This eventually lead to a joint committee between the American Library Associate and SAA to discuss the nuances and differences of the two professions.
By the 1970s, the majority of membership in SAA was made up of college and university archivists. These archivists, as well as the influence of more progressive social justice movements, allowed for the restructuring the organization as a whole, democratizing elections and restructuring committees. There was also a push for better professional resources as well as education standards. Coming out of the 1960s, there was a large movement of activist archivists, with members taking a greater interest in political and social issues. This forced SAA to take stances on different contemporary public issues that affected the profession. Social historians like Howard Zinn and Sam Bass Warner brought their views to the annual SAA meeting 1971, challenging archivists to re-examine policies and assumptions.
In the 1980s, a large portion of the society's focus was on outreach. Systematic studies were conduct to assess who archives users were, how they used the archives, and why. The struggle for creating a professional identity continued as standards for education programs, certification, and institutional evaluation became the forefront of discussion. A Task Force on Goals and Priorities, created in 1982, aimed to amend those issues, attempting to unify the organization under one professional umbrella. New challenges also emerged with the widespread use of the Internet and digital technologies. SAA partnered with the Library of Congress in developing Encoded Archival Description in 1993. EAD is an XML Document Type Definition and a standard for encoding archival finding aids, allowing them to be made accessible online. SAA also offers certification for Digital Archives Specialists, which allows for the profession to work within the emerging technological landscape and capture digital records.
In November 2017, SAA released a Strategic plan for 2018–2020, which outlined four major goal areas for the future: advocating for archives and archivists, enhancing professional growth, advancing the field, and meeting members' needs.
Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable
1970s In the 1970s, the SAA began to collaborate with the American Association of Museums and the Association for State and Local History to form a Joint Committee on Opportunities for Minorities in Museums, Archives, and Historical Agencies. Phil Mason and Elsie Freivogel were appointed but outreach to minority members of the SAA was poor. Many minorities were unaware of the Joint Committee and expressed that there had not been any direct communications from the committee's representatives.
The final report of the SAA Task Force on Diversity states:In 1972 SAA adopted the report of its Committee for the 1970s. Included among the Committee recommendations was a positive injunction to the nominating committee to make the Council more representative of and responsible to the diverse interests of the SAA by considering "archival interest, age, sex, geography, nationality, ethnicity, and race in the selection of a slate of candidates."Also in the report, "no person should be nominated as a candidate for an SAA office who, in her or his job, flagrantly espouses or practices discrimination in regard to race, sex, nationality, or political or religious ideology." In 1978, the SAA established a joint Committee on Opportunities for Minorities. However, the group languished in part from a lack of funds.
1980s: Task Force The Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable began as a Task Force on Minorities within the SAA. In 1981, archivists Diana Lachateñeré and Paula Williams drafted a resolution for the task force and members of the SAA approved the group. Thomas Battle, who also chaired the SAA's Diversity Committee, was appointed the chairman of the Task Force and John Fleckner, Archie Motley, Daniel T. Williams, and Paula Williams were appointed members. Diana Lachateñeré was chosen as the SAA representative for the Joint Committee on Minority Recruitment, replacing Phil Mason.
In the beginning, members noticed that the task force did not have much representation. In an interview with AACR History, Karen Jefferson stated:At the beginning of the minorities task force Native Americans, people of Latin American and Caribbean descent; and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender were included under the umbrella of minorities. Although minorities share some broad experiences as minorities, each group has unique concerns specific to their culture and experience.It was not until 1982 that a representative of Hispanic archivists was appointed: Idilio Garicia Pena. In its six years of existence, the task force made several recommendations to the SAA Council. These recommendations eventually became the foundation of the Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable, and they still pursue them today. Some of their recommendations were to: Develop a roster of minorities working in the profession. Establish a membership committee to help in recruitment efforts for the Society. Develop a policy statement regarding recruitment of minorities. Develop an organizational handbook to increase membership's knowledge of the Society's structure and functions. Provide orientation for new members at the annual meeting. Lower introductory dues rates for new members. Establish a single-day registration fee for the annual meeting. Seek funds to develop programs to address needs of minorities in the profession. Financially support SAA's own activities that are designed to address issues related to minorities in the profession. Establish a scholarship or fellowship to support the development of minorities in the profession.Many of these goals were met and the creation of the task force proved immediately to be a vehicle for broader minority participation in the SAA, especially in leadership.
1980s: Roundtable In 1987, the task force dissembled, restricted in their effectiveness because of a lack of interest and support from the SAA. The task force made the recommendation that a roundtable be created for minorities, which was formed the same year. Nine SAA members helped to found the roundtable: Diana Lachatanere, Wilda Logan, Carol Rudisell, Karen Jefferson, Ervin Jordan, Clifford Muse, Thomas Battle, Jo Ellen El-Bashir, and Brenda Banks. Diana Lachateñeré and Carol Rudisell served as the coordinators. In September 1987, the AACR held their first meeting in New York City at the annual SAA conference. At this meeting, the structure of the roundtable was adopted with two co-chairs, one elected annually with elections every year. Their first year, Carol Rudisell and Donna Wells co-chaired while Diana Lachateñeré was elected as chair of the Manuscript Section, declining to serve as co-chair.
It was not required to be a member of the SAA in order to participate in the roundtable. This allowed for a freer space in which the roundtable could interact with more minorities among the archival profession. But SAA membership would be encouraged and the chairpersons were required to be SAA members in good standing.
There was a lengthy debate on the name of the roundtable, varying from Minorities Roundtable to African American and Third World Archivists Roundtable. In 1994, the name was chosen to be the Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable.
Newsletter and directory In 1987, the roundtable began publishing a newsletter through the SAA, although not without objections from society members on costs. Thomas Battle then proposed that Howard University would completely fund the newsletter and even publish and distribute it for free. These newsletters were available to anyone who was interested in African American archives, manuscripts and collections. In less than a year, Battle returned to the SAA with a high percentage of popularity and interest in the newsletter among not just African Americans but all archivists. This newsletter continued to be funded by Howard University and was later used as a model for other roundtables of the SAA.
Lachateñeré and Rudisell were the first editors and after the first year, Karen Jefferson and Ruth Hill edited the newsletter. Other editors over the years include Kathryn Neal, Cathy Lynn Mundale, and Jo Ellen El-Bashir, who served one of the longest tenures as editor. In 2003, under editor Rose Roberta, the newsletter became available electronically and continues to be published online. Today, the newsletter continues to be the main source of communication for the roundtable members. The newsletter provides information on different members, institutions, the SAA, archives, and the activities and achievements of the roundtable.