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2003-2004 Annual Report
Activities
During the 2003-2004 year (May 2003- May 2004), the University of Texas
at Austin SAA Student Chapter maintained a membership of approximately
32 members. The board for this period consisted of the following officers:
- Daniel Alonzo, President
- Ron Drees, President
- Aubrey Carrier, Secretary
- Brandon Burke, Treasurer
- Catherine Stollar, Events Chair
- Cherie Baker, Webmaster
SAA Members: Shelley Aggeler, Daniel Alonzo, Ben Bahlmann, Melissa Bailey,
Cherie Baker, John Benner, Leah Billingsley, Lisa Boettrich, Brandon Burke,
Vanessa Cameron, Aubrey Carrier, Jacob Cleary, Andy Crews, Jean Davin, Ann
Marie Donovan, Ron Drees, Don Drumtra, Sara Fuchs, Hollie Fulkerson, Katherine
Haack, Robin Howard, Naoko Kato, Jennifer Madden, Mary Anne MarDock, April
Norris, Katherine O'Dell, Tara Olivero, Angela Palmer, Anne Simmons, Sue
Soy, Nora Stick, Christina Thomsen.
In May 2003, the new board began planning for Archives Week. Because the
previous year had already covered Archives in War, we thought we would focus
on Archives and the individual. However, we soon realized that we could not
ignore the destruction in Iraq so we changed the theme of Archives Week 2003
to “Who controls the past: Archives and Political Legitimacy.”
- Monday, October 27th: Steve Mielke, the archivist for the Woodward
and Bernstein Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, spoke
about this politically-charged collection. A scandal of near-mythic proportions
in U.S. political history, the notorious Watergate incident has become
synonymous with governmental corruption and abuse of power.
- Wednesday, October
29th: Dr. David B. Gracy II, Governor Bill Daniel Professor in Archival
Enterprise at UT-Austin’s School of Information,
gave a talk entitled “‘Even I Was Appalled at the Possibilities’:
The Nature and Impact of Documentary Forgery.” Dr. Gracy followed
the colorful careers of forgery artists from antiquity to the present,
ending with his conclusions on the authenticity of the José Enrique
de la Peña Diary.
- Thursday, October 30th: Dr. Keith Watenpaugh, Assistant
Professor of History and Deputy Director of the Institute of Peace Studies
at Le Moyne College
in Syracuse spoke on “The Politics of ‘Mnemocide’: Archives,
Libraries, and the Future of Iraq’s Past.” Dr. Watenpaugh discussed
the consequences of the destruction of Iraq’s National Library and
Archives.
- Saturday, November 1st: Archives Clinic at the Austin History
Center.
Attendance to all events was fair. We believe attendance to all events would
have been better had there only been two speakers. Coordinating four events
proved to be a bit too much for the time and resources available to us.
Before and after Archives Week, the chapter participated in a number of
activities including:
- August: Annual Fall Potluck
- October: SAA sponsored a tour of the Center
for American History that included a discussion with the archivist from
Exxon/Mobil. The discussion
was an enlightening
look at the world of corporate archives.
- October: SAA sponsored bowling
night with the Preservation and Conservation Studies students.
- October:
Dr. Gracy gave a tour of the Capitol Building
- February: Annual Spring Potluck
- February: Catherine Stollar gave a tour
of the Harry Ransom Humanities
Research Center’s current exhibit, “Make It New: The Rise of Modernism.”
- March:
SAA took a trip to San Antonio to visit the Daughters of the Republic of
Texas archives and the Southwestern Bell Corporate Archives.
- April: SAA went
down to the Rio Grande Valley and visited several archives and museum’s
including the Archives and Manuscripts Division at the University of Texas
Pan American, the Museum of South
Texas History, the
Reynosa Municipal Archives, the Brownsville Historical Museum,
the Casa Mata Museum in Matamoros, and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo
de Tamaulipas. We
also had time to visit the “World’s Largest Killer
Bee” in
Hidalgo. This trip will be the subject of SAA’s poster
session this year in Boston.
As usual, SAA had a very good and productive year. The board compiled an “Archives
Week Manual” to help each subsequent board plan and execute Archives
Week with more efficiency. In February, the SAA website underwent a total overhaul.
The website was redesigned and an “Archives” component was added,
allowing users to access all of the past Archives Week websites. SAA-UT’s
physical records were also processed and are now housed at the Collections
Deposit Library. An inventory for our records is forthcoming and will be made
available at our website.
In addition, our IT lab was outfitted with XMetal, so that archives students
can now mark up finding aids and inventories in EAD. This summer, the new board
will begin a Journal Club, where students will meet to discuss the latest archival
literature.
SAA-UT looks forward to another great year and successful Archives Week.
Respectfully Submitted,
Daniel Alonzo, President
SAA-UT Student Chapter 2003-2004
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