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The Society:
From Birth to Maturity
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7
Introduction
SAA Membership
SAA Leadership (Council & Officers)
Research and Publication
Annual Meeting Analysis
Financial Profile
Presidential Perspective
SAA in a Comparative Context
End Notes
Presidential
Perspective
On a personal level, the attitudes and aspirations of our presidents provide
a special perspective on the Society's evolution. For his presidential
address
in 1940, Waldo Gifford Leland of the American Council of Learned Societies,
chose the theme "The Archivist in Times of Emergency." Having never been an
archivist, Leland assumed his election meant that "the Society doubtless wished
to emphasize the extension of its interest beyond purely technical or narrowly
professional matters." His address, delivered only fourteen months after Hitler's
invasion of Poland precipitated World War II, was portentous:
. .
.we are apprehensive lest the limited emergency, of more than a year's duration,
should--perhaps very soon--deepen and spread into the greatest of all emergencies--total
war--a situation which would be experienced by the people of the United States
for the first time in their history. . . .we are forced to realize that developments
external to us, which we ourselves cannot control may force such an emergency
upon us.22
Barely a year
later, the bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war.
The Society's
president in 1965 was W. Kaye Lamb, Dominion (now National) Archivist of Canada.
During part of his term he also served as President of the Society of Archivists
of Great Britain. In his presidential address Dr. Lamb examined "The Changing
Role of the Archivist," observing that "In many ways it has become virtually
a new profession." He noted that "the archivist has ceased to be primarily a
custodian--a caretaker--and has become a gatherer of records and manuscripts." Citing
the increasing diversity of material found in archives, the growing complexity
of archival work, the need to establish standards, and the importance of professional
training, Lamb identified emerging trends that have continued to influence
the
profession and the Society.23
In 1990, President
John Fleckner shared with us a very personal and touching reflection on being
an archivist--presented in the form of three letters to a student considering
an archival career. As a non-archivist, Leland looked at the societal context
in which archivists work and its implications for the profession. By 1965, President
Lamb anticipated Jerry Ham's activist archival approach in a post-custodial
era. Then, in 1990, John Fleckner provided his apologia as a way of explaining
to a new generation the attractiveness of our profession.24
Completion of
a term as president confers a "senior" status, reflecting less a recognition
of age than of service. It is fitting to conclude, therefore, with the observations
and experience of some of the presidents who responded to my request for their
perspective. Opinions varied, making generalizations difficult, but even so,
certain patterns are apparent. Nearly half came to the presidency with an agenda,
but the annual cycle of elections made it difficult to achieve significant
change,
and unanticipated issues often displaced a president's plans. These have been
both internal--establishing a national office, recruitment of executive directors,
grant programs and budgeting, and structural changes to the Society--and external--independence
for the National Archives, selection of the Archivist of the United States,
Watergate and its aftermath, and reauthorization and/or funding for NEH, NARA,
and NHPRC.25
Major changes
to the profession over the past decade predictably included the increased importance
of technology and the emergence of electronic records. H. G. Jones, author of
The Records of a Nation and 1968 president, reminds us that, "In the
1950s, we looked forward to the 'paperless office' when microfilm would be
substituted.
In the 1980s computers were substituted. Yet today we use far more paper than
ever before. So we still dream the impossible dream, and the forests are
groaning."
Former Archivist
of the United States, Bert Rhoads, reflected the perspective of many presidents
in noting the increased professionalism--the increase in research and publications,
graduate education, and the creation of the Academy of Certified Archivists.
Major changes
in SAA differed from those of the profession, but mirrored society to some extent.
The activism of the late 1960s and early 1970s was characteristic of SAA as
well. The Committee of the '70s and the role of ACT--one an official committee
of the Society and the other an ad hoc group of activists--have been chronicled
elsewhere. At the time of the 1972 meeting, Dominion Archivist of Canada Wilfred
Smith was a candidate for president. He recalled that ACT representatives asked
him to meet with the group before the business meeting at which the election
was to occur
. .
.so they could decide if they would try to block my election as President. The
only time we could agree on was during the time allotted for dinner. I was told
that the group would provide a sandwich which I could eat while talking to them.
The meeting place was the main lobby of the hotel. . . .We had an amicable discussion,
I answered their questions and they agreed not to oppose my election.
This period also
saw the emergence of regional archival organizations that competed with SAA.
Finding common ground and reducing friction required finesse. Smith later recalled:
One
of my blunt American colleagues told me that the things I had been able to accomplish
were not entirely the result of superior ability because nationality was a factor
and I think it is true that it was less difficult for an outsider to bring about
agreement in controversial matters than for one who was identified with one
side or the other in the turbulent affairs of an American professional association.
Bert Rhoads noted
with regret the increased fragmentation that accompanied the changes--"the rise
of the regionals, the withdrawal of most records managers from the archival
community, and the establishment of NAGARA--the latter a reflection of a sense
among government archivists, particularly state archivists, that the SAA was
insufficiently responsive." A year later, internal pressures still occupied
much of the president's time. Robert Warner noted that one of the issues debated
among the Council in 1976 was whether Council meetings should be open or not;
the sentiment at the time was that they should not be open. Another contested
issue dealt with establishing the right balance between the authority and responsibility
of the executive director and SAA's elected leadership.
Reflecting more
recent concerns, John Fleckner observed that, "Reductions in funding (in real
and/or inflated dollars) have made us leaner, harder working, and less able
to volunteer time for the profession. They also may be forcing us to rethink
our methods." Frank Burke noted the increase of archival education provided
through library schools and the increase in women entering the profession and
leading the Society.
When asked what
one thing they would change about the Society, presidents did not respond with
a single voice, but most emphasized the need for balance and inclusiveness:
- the increase
of ethnic diversity within the Society, making it more reflective of the larger
society we attempt to document.
- balance between
a knowledge of technology and the continuing problems related to textual records
and small repositories.
- the need to
recognize specialization without losing the commonality that makes us archivists.
Maynard Brichford
suggested one change that I'm sure we'd all agree with--"add a digit to all
archival salaries."
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