Georgia Archives Celebrates 100 Years

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Georgia Archives 100th Anniversary
Gov. Nathan Deal to speak
Atlanta— July 5, 2018 — The Friends of Georgia Archives and History (FOGAH) will host an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Georgia Archives on Saturday, August 18, beginning at 4:30 pm EST in Morrow.
The celebration will begin at the Georgia Archives lobby, located at 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow at 4:30pm with a reception, tours, and a chance to see the current exhibit on Georgia’s earliest land records. Attendees will then move next door to the National Archives at Atlanta, for a program featuring dinner and special speakers.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal will speak at the event, as will United States Archivist David Ferriero. Other speakers will include Steve Engerrand, Deputy State Archivist, and Georgia State Senator Valencia Seay, and Dr. Steve Wrigley, Chancellor for the University System of Georgia.


After its founding in 1918, the Georgia Archives occupied a small area in the state capitol.  In 1929 it moved to Rhodes Hall on Peachtree Street which housed the state’s records until Georgia opened a new Archives and Records Building in 1965.  The Archives moved to its current home in Morrow, Georgia adjacent to the National Archives Atlanta and Clayton State University in 2003.


Reservations are required and the deadline for purchasing your tickets is August 8. Tickets are $60 per person.


As the repository for official state government records, the Georgia Archives collects, provides access and preserves the permanently-valuable public records of the State of Georgia. The Georgia Archives also collects and maintains papers of private citizens and organizations which complement the government records collection and are relevant to Georgia’s history.  For more information about tickets, go to www.fogah.org.



For more information, press only: Jill Sweetapple, sweetapplej30324@gmail.com

City of Savannah Launches New Portrait Exhibit

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The Municipal Records and Archives Division of the City of Savannah will be displaying “Capturing the Soul: Portrait Photography from the W.W. Law Collection” at the Beach Institute African American Cultural Center through January 2019.

The display features thirty portraits from the W. W. Law Photograph Collection which highlight the evolving nature of photography, portraiture as an art form, as well as material culture through time. The images date from the 1870s through the 1990s, and document the lives of individuals both prominent and anonymous. 

The city received the W.W. Law Collection from the W.W. Law Foundation as a donation in 2014, and is in the midst of a multi-year archival project to process and open the collection to the public for research use and have been opening it in phases as reach certain milestones are reached.
Over the years, the department has exhibited portions of the collection at the Beach Institute, Carnegie Library and  Savannah’s City Hall and look forward to continuing those efforts around town as processing is completed. The goal is to introduce new audiences to the work of W.W. Law and his multi-faceted collection, which spans a diverse career in the Civil Rights Movement, historic preservation, museums, history, music and more.
The display uses the photograph collection “as a springboard to look at portrait photography over time,” says Luciana Spracher, Director of the Municipal Records and Archives Division. “Law’s collection is so diverse and spans such a large time period that it was a wonderful opportunity for us to select a nice sampling of images that capture the evolution of photography from the 1870s through the 1990s through the lens of portraiture. This also allows us to focus on the individual, the named and unnamed.
“With Law, we have a tendency to focus on his Civil Rights Movement and all the movers and shakers he interacted with. This exhibit allowed us to shift away from him and zero in on the faces of others and, through their portraits, shine the spotlight on them, even if we don’t know their names or what they did. Perhaps by doing this, someone will come forward and provide this information and help us fill in those gaps. The exhibit features 30 portraits selected because they spoke to us in some way — men, women, children and families — but really there are so many wonderful images in the W.W. Law Photograph Collection, we hope this exhibit will encourage visitors to explore the larger collection, the majority of which is digitized and available online at www.savannahga.gov/wwlaw.”
For more on the Beach Institute: http://www.beachinstitute.org/ 

Nominating Committee Invites Nominations

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Interested in expanding your leadership or project management skills? Want to cultivate connections with other cultural heritage professionals throughout Georgia?
The SGA Nominating Committee invites you to get involved in SGA leadership. We have several open SGA board positions for 2019. You can nominate yourself or a colleague for one of the vacant positions.
More information on serving in a leadership position in SGA and the duties of each position can be found in the Administrative Handbook, as well as in the organization’s Bylaws. Projects and work will be guided by the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan.
Nominees should also be aware of SGA’s Statement on Diversity and Inclusion. The recruitment practicesused by SGA’s Nominating Committee will uphold the principles and commitments set forth in this statement.
Here are the vacancies for ELECTED positions for 2019 (these board members vote on official SGA decisions):
Vice President / President-Elect
Secretary
Treasurer
Assistant Program Chair
Assistant Local Arrangements Chair
Archivist
Nominating Committee Members (2 positions)
Candidates for elected positions must send a short bio and brief statement of interest addressing SGA’s Core Values, including diversity, to nominating@soga.org. SGA’s Core Values are outlined on page 2 of the Strategic Plan.
——
Here are the vacancies for APPOINTED positions for 2019 (these board members do not vote but do play key leadership roles):
Assistant Communications Director
Provenance Editor
Assistant Website Manager
Assistant Outreach Manager
Assistant RAAC Liaison
Georgia Archives Month Assistant Liaison
Assistant Education Committee Chair
Assistant Mentoring Program Coordinator
Scholarship Committee Chair
If you are interested in an appointed position or have a recommendation, please email nominating@soga.org.
——
The deadline for nominations for either elected or appointed positions is 8/20/2018. Self-nominations are encouraged. If you have any questions, please email nominating@soga.org

Even More Committee Updates!

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The Scholarship Committee would like to congratulate Brittany Newberry on being selected to receive the Ed Weldon Scholarship for early-bird registration to the Society of American Archivists Conference.  Good luck in D.C.!

We look forward to hearing about your experience in a future blog post, and congratulations again!!



The Program Committee has been working diligently over the last six months to release the theme and program earlier in the calendar year, allowing attendees more time to determine their travel schedules for the Annual Meeting. 
After extensive review of member feedback in previous Annual Meeting surveys, the Committee chose this year’s theme of Practical Pathways: Applied Tools and Creative Approaches. The selection is in direct response to the expressed need for hands-on, pragmatic suggestions and solutions for the problems archivists are facing in the workplace. A complete description of the theme can be found here.
Additionally, the Program Committee is extremely excited that the 2018 Annual Meeting Program Draft is now available, and believes the quality and diversity of session and poster topics and speakers will be a boon to attendees. Preparations for the final draft of the program–including the popular “At a Glance” schedule debuted last year–are currently underway.

The SGA Nominating Committee — Kevin Fleming, Megan Kerkhoff, and Wendy Hagenmaier — has been working on annual activities related to SGA Fellows and nominations, as well as two important strategic plan goals focused on diversity and communication.
We publicized the call for Fellows nominations (thanks to those of you who submitted nominations!) and will be announcing the results at the 2018 Annual Meeting. We’ll soon be recruiting candidates for open leadership positions. Please consider throwing your hat into the ring.
This year, we’re focusing on two strategic goals:
1) Increasing outreach to students, new members, and those who haven’t considered SGA leadership roles and encouraging them to get involved.
We’re just kicking off this outreach. Please let us know if you have any questions about leadership opportunities, would like us to chat with your class, or want to recommend members for leadership roles.
2) Exploring opportunities to cultivate interaction among the SGA Fellows cohort and the SGA membership.
We’re planning a fun forum for this at the Annual Meeting — stay tuned!
Please feel welcome to reach out to us with any ideas or questions at nominating@soga.org.

Committee Updates!

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The Nominating Committee is currently seeking nominations for this year’s Society of Georgia Archivists Fellows Award. Now is your chance to recognize individuals for their outstanding achievements in our profession and for their valuable contributions to SGA!
To be eligible, nominees must have been members of SGA for at least five years and demonstrate dedication to education, leadership, advocacy, and/or scholarly activities that impact the Georgia archival community.
The nomination form and award procedures are available on the SGA Fellows webpage: https://soga.wildapricot.org/membership/fellows
The deadline to submit a nomination is April 30, 2018.
Please contact the Nominating Committee with questions about the program or procedures: nominating@soga.org
Thank you,
2018 SGA Nominating Committee:
Kevin Fleming
Wendy Hagenmaier, Chair
Megan Kerkhoff



The SGA Membership and Outreach and Advocacy Committee hosted a joint tour of “A Fire That No Water Could Put Out”: Civil Rights Photography at the High Museum of Art, March 11, 2018. Six members attended.

The committee also organized a joint SGA/Special Libraries Association-Atlanta Chapter Networking Night and Tour of the Breman Museum’s new exhibition on display from the National Archives and Records Administration, “Discovery and Recovery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage,” April 10, 2018. Jeremy Katz, Director of the Cuba Family Archives also led a tour of the archives. Twenty-seven members of both organizations attended.










Georgia Archives Month Spotlight Grant

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We are now accepting applications for the Georgia Archives Months Spotlight Grant. 
The Georgia Archives Month Spotlight on Archives Grant is intended to help archives, museums, or heritage institutions in Georgia promote public awareness of their archives and manuscript collections during Georgia Archives Month in October. This year, there will be one award of $500; award monies are intended to be used by the selected institution to fund an event to be held during Georgia Archives Month in October 2018 and the money can be used for the event’s expenses. Our 2018 theme is “Faces and Places: Documenting Diversity during Georgia Archives Month”
You can get your application and specific details HERE:
Find the link for the GAM 2018 Spotlight on Archives Grant Application, and apply today. The deadline is June 15. 
While you are there, check out events hosted by 2017’s winners!  Good luck!
Georgia Archives Month Committee

Catherine Hendricks has joined the University of West Georgia’s Special Collections as Processing Archivist.

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Catherine Hendricks has joined the University of West Georgia’s Special Collections as Processing Archivist. She earned the M.A. in History and a Graduate Certificate in Public History from the University of West Georgia in 2008, and a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Georgia in 1991.  In addition, she holds undergraduate degrees in English and sociology and journalism. Catherine’s previous work at the University of West Georgia has included serving as project director for the Thomas B. Murphy State Capitol Office Replication Project, co-director of the Powder Springs Project, and as coordinator of numerous programs and travelling exhibits.  Prior to her employment at the University of West Georgia, Catherine worked for ten years as Academic Assistant to the Provost at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia, and, previous to that, was assistant director of the Savannah Science Museum, Savannah, Georgia, for six years, also serving for a year as the acting director. 

Georgia Archives Month!

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HAPPY GEORGIA ARCHIVES MONTH!

Georgia Archives Month (GAM) is an exciting and important month for archivists and archival institutions in Georgia. GAM was officially recognized in 2000 thanks to a proclamation made by Governor Roy Barnes. GAM is sponsored by the Society of Georgia Archivists. For the first six years, GAM events took place during the course of one week in October, but in 2007, these events began to extend throughout the course of the entire month.

This year’s theme for GAM is “Come on in Y’all: Accessible Archives in Georgia.” There are so many great ways that Georgia archival institutions are making their collections accessible to the public, and the SGA Outreach Team wants to highlight these awesome ideas all month. Whether it’s processing a new collection, advocating for your repository, or developing new outreach tools – we want to hear about it! Email outreach@soga.org to share your GAM announcements and experiences.

To learn more about the history of the Society of Georgia Archivists and Georgia Archives Month, visit http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/society-georgia-archivists.

Let’s Advocate!

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As archivists, we know that advocating for our profession is a crucial part of our work. The Academy of Certified Archivists includes advocacy within one of the seven main domains of the archival profession. ACA explains that archivists must “develop an understanding of, and support for, the archival program among resource allocators, key constituents, potential donors, allied professionals, and other internal and external stakeholders to the archives’ parent organization” (ACA Exam Handbook 21). Advocating for our profession can take many forms – public programming, meetings with local and state politicians, donor relations, fundraising, activism, etc. For the Society of Georgia Archivists, activism kicked into high gear roughly five years ago when the future of the Georgia Archives was in danger. Now that this threat has passed, it is time to start thinking about advocacy in a long-term sense. While issue-based advocacy is important, it is also necessary to engage in a steady rhythm of advocacy so that our community understands the value of what we do.
The SGA Outreach Team has made it a point to focus on advocacy for fall 2017. We are excited to see the inroads we can make in Georgia to help inform our community of the archival profession. Here are some ideas we are considering…
–        Developing an advocacy “workflow” for current and future members of the SGA Outreach Team
–        Setting up meetings with our local and state politicians to discuss our purpose as archivists
–        Inviting stakeholders to SGA events
–        Targeting SGA social media to address issues specifically related to advocacy   
SGA Members with Governor Nathan Deal at the 2016 Georgia Archives Month Proclamation Signing

What other ideas do you have for advocacy? Let us know!!

"Tackling the ACA Exam" (written by Tiffany Atwater)

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“The best way to finish an unpleasant task is to get started” ~Anonymous
No one likes taking tests! We study, cry, study some more, eat ice cream and then study again,—or maybe this was just my experience in graduate school. Nonetheless, through my matriculation of grad school, there was one nagging thought in my mind. “What if I graduate but can’t pass the Certification Exam?” Scary right, well, not exactly.  Unlike some professions, not passing the exam does not signify a nail in the coffin of my career, — it is nonetheless, a testament to my understanding of the profession and my ability to maintain standards of excellence in historical preservation and access to primary resources. The certification exam, was developed by “the Academy of Certified Archivists, founded in 1989 at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists.”<!–[if supportFields]> CITATION Aca17 \l 1033 <![endif]–> (Academy of Certified Archivists, 2017)<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>The ACA exam was established in conjunction with the Society of American Archivists and the Interim Board for Certification (IBC) in order to promote understanding of archival goals, ethics and standards. The examination is conducted annually in conjunction with the Society of American Archivist’s Annual Meeting. Applicants are able to take the test either at SAA’s annual meeting or request a host city where 3 or more applicants wish to take the test.
I applied for the test last year, and I must say as scared as I was about taking the exam, I was more inspired by the sight of all the other test takers in the room with me. Seeing former classmates and current colleagues take the test was exciting. One of the ways I studied for the exam was by reaching out to colleagues who had taken the test. One of the most surprising pieces of advice I received was to “relax.” The exam is challenging; it’s supposed to be. If everyone could pass, what would make the profession so special? Being an archivist is more than putting old stuff in boxes. It’s someone who preserves, manages, and provides access to the past. We are the gatekeepers to history, but more importantly we are a legitimate profession that requires training and higher education. We are not just a title to be used for the person who keeps all the “old stuff.” The certification exam is the Academy’s effort to help validate what we, as working archivists, already know — our profession takes skill.
I eventually studied hard and passed the exam, and I encourage anyone who has been procrastinating, scared, or even unaware to visit the Academy of Certified Archivists website and learn more about certification. The Academy even provides an exam handbook that serves as a guide for anyone desiring to become certified. It includes an explanation of the Academy’s structure, principles guiding the exam’s creation, sample questions, study guide and bibliography. While it is too late to register for the upcoming 2017 exam, remember that applications for the 2018 exam usually open in February. For those who are taking the exam this year, I will see you July 26th as I am one of the proctors for the Atlanta site.

A wise person once said, “The best way to finish an unpleasant task is to get started.” Who that person is, I don’t know perhaps an archivist will find this quote in an archive somewhere, and when they do, hopefully the archivist will have a CA after their title. 
Written by Tiffany Atwater