Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This year-end post is from I&A Steering Committee member Laurel Bowen, University Archivist at Georgia State University.
What is an example of an elevator pitch you have used concerning your own archives, and who was the audience?
As a university archivist, one of my most important constituencies is the university’s administration. In soliciting records and selling our services, we let administrative staff know that:
The Archives can enhance your effectiveness by helping you find and use records that address your most pressing needs. We work hard to respond in a timely and thorough way to your priorities. Sometimes the results may surprise you.
Here is an example of one request. The President’s Office wanted Board of Regents support to obtain state funding to build a new classroom building.
The Archives quickly provided information about the large classroom building the university wanted to replace:
- We acquired it in 1946.
- It was built as a parking garage (ramps are still there).
- It was originally “renovated” for classroom use using World War II surplus.
- In addition to its primary use as a parking garage, it also housed a grill, a cotton warehouse, and a sawmill.
Certainly not an adequate environment for 21st century teaching and learning! The Board of Regents, which oversees more than thirty public educational institutions, made the university’s request its top facilities priority that year, and the state provided the funding.
What controversial item or collection have you had to deal with in your career?
In a previous position, I was responsible for the papers of a number of state and national political leaders. Managing the collections of incumbents was challenging because, during every election cycle, opponents would try to gain access to those papers. The innovative subterfuges they employed always made us cautious when political papers arrived.
One day a number of bankers boxes were delivered. Markings indicated their use as evidence in legal proceedings. These were the papers of a well-known state official. In addition to the expected speeches and correspondence were a variety of financial records relating to his businesses, income tax returns, campaign finances, state vendor contracts, and race track investments. Boxes of photos included friendly images of the official with his personal secretary. Additional boxes concerned the settlement of his estate–names of some prominent people appeared there.
What was this? Apparently, after the man’s unexpected death midway through his second term, a large amount of cash was discovered in the hotel room he routinely occupied in town. A substantial liquor cache was also found. (Remnants of neither remained in the collection—we checked carefully.) On further inquiry, we heard the official was popular, folksy, and powerful: people often came up to greet him, shaking his hand and simultaneously depositing little tokens of appreciation in his pocket. He stored his growing collection in various sized containers in his hotel room closet.
How did we handle the situation? After years of investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the subsequent litigation, we decided anything controversial had already been well aired. The collection opened for research without any restrictions. (N.B. The IRS recovered $1.5 million.)
What should archivists focus on in the future?
Archivists should be active in the civic arena, advising and even advocating on issues that have a records-related component. Are elected officials creating and maintaining records documenting their decisions as they act on our behalf? Do they provide timely access to those records when requested? Are police body cameras public records? Are lives endangered by unwieldy records-keeping systems and laws limiting effective access to records?
Archivists who interact only with other archivists are preaching to the choir. We need to be stepping out and engaging fully with neighbors and fellow citizens on issues that matter to us. David Gracy’s “archives and society” initiative encouraged us to define the value of archives and archivists to society. Rand Jimerson convinced us of the power of archives, enabling us to be bold in using familiar tools to effect meaningful change. Kathleen Roe urges us to become expert at telling the stories that demonstrate how archives changed lives.
Archivists need to not only tell the stories, but create stories in our own communities. We have the skills. When is the last time your neighbors or a public official wanted to know, after seeing you in action, “What kind of profession are you in?”
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