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2002 Annual Meeting—President's Welcome
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I am delighted to invite you to join us in Birmingham, Alabama, this
August for the 66th annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists.
One of the particular pleasures for me of being a member of SAA has
always been the fact that we are a small enough organization that we don't
get stuck in the annual meeting rut of having to meet only in "major
cities" that have enough hotel and meeting space to accommodate,
for example, 25,000 librarians. Over the years we have had the pleasure
of meeting in such places as Madison (now you know how old I really am!),
Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville, San Diego, New Orleans, etc. Except
for New Orleans and Orlando, which we all know are sui generis, SAA has
never met in the so-called "Deep South." As a long ago transplanted
Midwesterner who has now lived in the south longer than I have lived anywhere,
I have come to appreciate its special charms. I can think of no place
more appropriate to our calling or significant to us as citizens, than
to hold this annual meeting in Birmingham. Particularly in this the Centennial
year (+1) of the founding of the first state archives in the United States—in
Alabama.
My first visit to Birmingham was last December to attend the meeting
of the Program Committee at the Sheraton Birmingham, which will be our
convention hotel. In driving and walking around Birmingham, I was struck
with the strong and palpable sense of recent history and how the city
itself documents that history.
But I need go no further in convincing you of the interest, pleasures
and attractions of Birmingham; Alden Monroe and his host committee have
already done a superb job of that. In addition, the program committee,
masterfully co-chaired by Kris Kiesling and Bill Landis, has been building
on the theme "Archival Roots: Our Foundation and Our Future,"
and they have reported on that work in the Jan./Feb. issue of Archival
Outlook. Permit me, however, to offer some highlights and to explain why
this will be an especially significant meeting for me—and for you
as well.
This meeting will offer two elements that are entirely new. First, in
response to numerous requests over the years, we will be offering a series
of session-length workshops in archival basics, called "Archives
Unplugged." These sessions will offer the many new archivists at
our meetings access to basic information, as well as fresh perspectives
on these topics for those of us who may have been in the profession for
some time, but just never had any training in, for example, appraisal
or basic preservation.
Second, instead of the standard two plenary sessions, there will be
three, with the third focused on the tragic events of last September 11,
something the leadership and program committee felt was important enough
to us as archivists and citizens to merit more attention and discussion.
We are extremely fortunate and pleased to have engaged the Reverend
Fred Shuttlesworth to speak at the opening plenary session. Born and raised
in Birmingham, Reverend Shuttlesworth is regarded as one of the "big
three" in the American Civil Rights Movement, along with Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., and Ralph Abernathy. He will offer thought-provoking
reflection on our foundations and the significance of the Civil Rights
struggle for archivists, while our future will be addressed by Clifford
Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI).
Cliff Lynch is one of the few individuals I have met who truly comprehends
and can clearly articulate the central role that primary resources play
in the new digital information universe.
Beyond the workshops and the plenary sessions, there will be the usual
wide array of sessions, meetings, and social events. However, for this
annual meeting, the former will be particularly rich and timely and the
latter rich in the history, culture, and cuisine of the area; the meetings
(sections, committees, roundtables, etc.), as always, are what you make
them. But, judging from what I hear and see, the Society of American Archivists
is stronger, more active, and more relevant than ever, and that strength
is reflected in the activities of our various constituent groups. Come
to Birmingham and celebrate our strength while we contemplate our roots
and our future.
STEVE HENSEN
President, Society of American Archivists
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