Envisioning Metropolis: The Future of New York City’s Past Today

A little under a century ago, the expressionist silent film Metropolis made its world premiere in Berlin. Written by Thea von Harbou and directed by Fritz Lang, the film takes place in what was then the distant year of 2026. Set against the backdrop of a futuristic, dystopian cityscape of endless skyscrapers, the film imagines a society riven with class conflict and inequality. Our current year 2026 marks the 400^th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam and the Semiquincentennial of the establishment of the United States. This synchronicity allows us to explore concepts of commemoration and chronology—what are we celebrating when we mark these anniversaries: our past or our future? 

When it premiered in 1927, Metropolis faced widespread criticism, and studio executives demanded the film go through rigorous rounds of editing. Much of the film’s original cut was lost—until 2008, when the original version was discovered by Paula Felix-Didier in the archives of the Museo del Cine, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is an illustrative example of archivists as mediators in the process of remembrance and rediscovery. In this symposium, we will consider questions of legacy and memorialization, and how these abstract concepts come to bear on our work as archival stewards in concrete, material ways.

As an expressionist work of science-fiction, Metropolis aimed to offer its audience  a vision of a far-off future. But, the film speaks as much to the future as it does to the anxieties and concerns of its contemporary audience. As archivists, our task is to preserve and catalog works of enduring value. We seek to provide for our successors a record of our predecessors’ time as well as our own. In this spirit, where is the intersection between story, history and prediction, and how do we unravel these interrelated concepts? Let us examine how our ancestors envisioned the future and interrogate how we look back on history today, in order to better understand the role we collectively play in the ongoing dialogue between past, present, and future.

Utilizing Metropolis as a conceptual framework, and taking into consideration the pivotal anniversaries the nation will mark this year, we invite reflections on how archives can  prepare for the future and what we might envision that future to be. Recognizing the current realities of the socio-political landscape, both nationally and locally, what can these commemorative milestones reveal? Is it possible to learn from history in order to glimpse a utopia of liberty and justice for all?

We welcome proposals that engage with the following themes, particularly those that explore the intersection of archival practice and broader questions of legacy, remembrance, and commemoration. Applicants are encouraged to respond directly to a prompt below or to use a prompt as a creative entry point for their submission.

Materiality, Loss, and Climate Realities

• • Physical vulnerability of memory in a changing world.

  • Disaster preparedness, recovery planning, and navigating the immediate impacts of environmental crises on physical repositories.

  • Implementing green and climate-conscious archival practices to ensure long-term preservation.

  • Case studies in locating, reconstructing, and conserving fragmented, censored, or "lost" historical media.

Access, Ethics, and the Politics of Privacy

• • Institutional boundaries and socio-political inequalities that become inherent power dynamics when working to build the historical record.

  • Balancing the utopian ideal of radical open access with the dystopian risks of exposing sensitive or private materials.

  • Navigating intellectual property, copyright challenges, and restrictive access policies in corporate and public spheres.

  • Managing redaction, restriction, and responsible access to historically or politically charged records.

Engaging, Mythmaking, and Telling the Story 

• • Making archives relevant to non-specialists through exhibits, public programs, and the curation of memory. 

  • Reaching and engaging digital audiences through innovative online methods and social media storytelling.

Community Archives, Inclusion, and Activism

• • Building, sustaining, and funding community-led archives that exist outside traditional institutional walls.

  • Archiving activism, social movements, and class conflicts as they occur.

  • Correcting historical omissions through inclusive metadata, reparative description, and collaborative collecting practices.

  • Using exhibitions and public programming to navigate the intersections of objective history, speculative storytelling, and collective memory. 

Labor, Advocacy, and Institutional Policy

• • Addressing burnout, labor conditions, and advocacy for archival workers facing precarious systemic realities.

  • Navigating limited budget resources and creating sustainable financial infrastructures within institutional policy frameworks.

Technology, AI, and Future Horizons

• • Accessioning and managing ever-expanding collections of born-digital material for an unknowable future.

  • New and speculative digital strategies, tools, and standards to prevent data loss.

  • AI usage, benefits, parameters, and ethical guardrails in archival processing and description.

The deadline for proposals is the end of the day on August 15, 2026.  The date for this year's symposium has not been finalized. New York Archives Week and the New York Archives Week Symposium usually take place in October.  

Please submit your proposals using this Google Form: https://forms.gle/df68549SETgdheQRA

We eagerly await your proposals and look forward to a dynamic and thought-provoking symposium!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact education@nycarchivists.org.

Dear A.R.T. Members,

A.R.T. is requesting information to better understand the impact of recent government actions and the current political environment on the archival field in the metropolitan area of New York City. Please take a few minutes to fill out the A.R.T. Impact Survey:

https://forms.gle/kv5AWzjxoSTR6Kp9A 

All responses will be kept confidential unless you provide us with permission to use your submission. Please feel free to share this survey link with your colleagues in the NYC metropolitan area.

Response Deadline: June 30th

For questions and comments, please contact the Advocacy Committee at advocacy@nycarchivists.org.

Dear A.R.T. Members,

You may have seen recent headlines claiming that Mayor Mamdani has restored library funding in his recent updated proposal for the city's FY27 budget. Unfortunately, while the new proposal has increased library funding from the Mayor's original FY27 financial plan, the new budget is still short (by $97 million) of meeting his campaign promise of allocating .5% of the city budget to its public libraries. You can read a more detailed breakdown of the numbers from our colleagues at the NYC Public Library Action Network (PLAN).

What you can do:

1. Send a letter (or two) to your NYC Council Member 

NYC PLAN has set up a campaign that allows you to send an email to your Council Member in just a few seconds: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/city-council-we-demand-half-a-percent-of-the-overall-city-budget-for-libraries.

You can also send a letter through Urban Librarians Unite’s campaign to support NYC Libraries with additional funding: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/help-support-nyc-libraries-with-additional-funding/ 

2. Give your Council Member a quick call

NYC PLAN has a webpage that makes it easy to look up your Council Member, along with a script you can reference during your call: https://nycplan.org/actions/call-your-city-councilmember/

3. Testify before City Council on June 10th 

When the City Council's Committee on Finance meets on June 10th, the public has the opportunity to testify either:

• in person at City Hall or over Zoom. 
  
• By submitting a written testimony 

NYC PLAN has a document with instructions on how to sign up, along with recommendations on how to testify effectively: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QWwqgrv0SfajB-BKVsym5b6nedhSuA_TqznbN1hLcWg/edit?tab=t.0 

- A.R.T. Advocacy Committee

Please feel free to reach out to the Advocacy Committee with questions, comments, and suggestions at advocacy@nycarchivists.org. 

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (A.R.T.) is delighted to announce the slate of candidates for our open positions on the Board of Directors. Take a moment to read the candidates' bios and statements, and cast your vote here.

Members may vote via this online form until 11:59 PM (EST) on Friday, May 29, 2026. Please note that you must enter the email address registered with your A.R.T. membership account.

The results of this election will be announced at the A.R.T. Annual Business Meeting, which will be held online on Friday, June 12, 2026, from 12:00 to 1:00 PM (EST). We invite you to join us to learn about the past year’s activities, as well as forthcoming initiatives and volunteer opportunities with the A.R.T. Board. Register here!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact president@nycarchivists.org.

Thank you for your participation and commitment to the A.R.T. community. Happy voting!

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (A.R.T.) is formally accepting nominations for the A.R.T. Board for the 2026 election year. Terms shall commence at the conclusion of the A.R.T. Annual Meeting, to be held in early June, with the announcement of the election results. The election will be conducted by electronic ballot, and the Annual Meeting will take place virtually (more details forthcoming).

The deadline for nomination submissions is Friday, May 15, 2026.

All current A.R.T. members are eligible for nomination. Nominations from colleagues and self-nominations are both welcome.

The following positions are up for election:

• Vice President (1-Year Interim Term)

• Secretary (2-Year Term)

• Director of Communications (2-Year Term)

• Director of Development (2-Year Term)

• Director of Membership (2-Year Term)

• Director of Publications (2-Year Term)

• Director of Outreach (2-Year Term)

Committee descriptions can be found here.

All positions are two-year terms, with the exception of the Vice President. The individual in this position will have the opportunity to run for a full two-year term in the 2027 election.

Serving on the A.R.T. Board is a unique volunteer opportunity that goes beyond the boundaries of your current professional commitments. As an A.R.T. Board member, you'll have the chance to develop valuable skills in local leadership, project management, and networking. Most importantly, you'll act as a representative for your colleagues and all A.R.T. members. Board members also receive a waiver of membership fees for the duration of their term.

Please direct any questions to Stephanie Neel, at president@nycarchivists.org.

Thank you for your generous participation and good luck to all the nominees!

Link to form: https://forms.gle/6wEBM2FfG3NzwhnbA  

Dear A.R.T. Members,

We have good news and bad news regarding the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the state of federal funding for libraries, archives, and museums. 

The good news: On Monday, April 6, the Trump administration withdrew its appeal of a federal judge’s earlier ruling in Rhode Island v. Trump. The withdrawal means that the 21 Attorneys General who filed the lawsuit to protect IMLS have prevailed. The federal government cannot dismantle IMLS or take further steps to eliminate the agency. 

The bad news: Despise this legal victory, the administration is once again seeking to eliminate the agency by submitting an FY2027 budget proposal to Congress with no funding for IMLS or the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

What you can do:

1. Call or email your Senators to show support for funding IMLS and NEH

Please participate in the American Library Association's (ALA) campaign to Show Up For Our Libraries. ALA has set up forms that make it easy to call and email your representatives. Senators only have until April 17 to add their signatures to letters asking Senate budget leaders to support funding priorities (like library services), so we all need to act this week.

2. Sign your organization onto AAM's field-wide letter supporting federal funding for museums

We encourage all history organizations (not individuals) to sign on to a field-wide letter in support of federal funding for these agencies. The letter is being organized by our colleagues at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). The deadline to sign on is April 30. 

Please note that this letter is NOT for individuals to sign. If you do not have the approval or authority to sign on your organization, please forward this letter to an appropriate representative at your organization.

This administration's ongoing assault on the cultural heritage field can only succeed if we become demoralized or complacent. We must be relentless in advocating for the vital role of libraries, archives, and museums in our communities. 

- A.R.T. Advocacy Committee

Please feel free to reach out to the Advocacy Committee with questions, comments, and suggestions at advocacy@nycarchivists.org. 

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York will publish the next issue of our quarterly newsletter, The Paper of Records, in mid-May 2026. The Publications Committee invites A.R.T. members to share any news that would be relevant to our community of archivists and related professionals: accomplishments, publications, job postings, volunteer opportunities, new initiatives or projects at your institution, or anything else of interest!

Please share your submission to newsletter@nycarchivists.org by Friday, May 1st. Submissions should be under 300 words and can include embedded links. You may also submit 1-2 images for consideration.

Please contact the Director of Publications at newsletter@nycarchivists.org with any questions!

Read the proceedings from the latest New York Archives Week Symposium, organized by the A.R.T. Education Committee and hosted at the Center for Brooklyn History on October 17, 2025. Links to presenters' slides and papers are available through this document, which can also be found on our Publications website page.

The Publications Committee of the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York is excited to share the second issue of our quarterly newsletter, The Paper of Records! 

Follow the link to read recaps of recent programming, including the A.R.T Holiday Party; news items from the A.R.T. community; interviews with the Treasurer and Director of Communications; a letter from our Managing Editor; a list of open funding opportunities for archivists; announcements regarding the upcoming Board of Directors elections, joining our listserv, and participating in the summer 2026 Metropolitan Archivist; and a list of archives-related arts and culture recommendations. 

Please submit news items for future issues, or direct any questions, to newsletter@nycarchivists.org.

Link: https://www.nycarchivists.org/resources/Publications/ThePaperOfRecords/ThePaperOfRecords_2026_Feb.pdf

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (A.R.T.) welcomes contributions for the Summer 2026 issue of the Metropolitan Archivist, A.R.T.’s online digital publication featuring articles, reviews, interviews, and collection spotlights.

The forthcoming issue of the Metropolitan Archivist is organized around the theme of Taking Care of Business - spotlighting institutional archivists and records managers, as well as thinking about archival labor more generally and the many forms it can take.

We want to hear about your work in corporate, organizational, religious, and other institutional archives, whether as an archivist, records manager, digital asset manager, or other related position; the challenges and opportunities found from balancing multiple jobs, working for grant-funded or term positions, or making a living as a freelance archivist; partnerships and collaborations across institutions; and advocating for archival goals and standards among stakeholders less familiar with archives within your organization.

We also seek reviewers for New York-area museum and gallery exhibitions, as listed on the submission form. Additional suggestions welcome, particularly those which relate to this issue’s theme.

Please submit pitches via this form by Friday, March 6th for consideration. Selected authors will be notified by Monday, March 9th, and final drafts with cleared images permissions are due by Friday, April 17th. Authors will receive feedback from our team of editors over the following weeks, and can expect to see their articles published in mid-July 2026.

Please contact Elizabeth Kobert, Director of Publications, with any questions: metropolitanarchivist@nycarchivists.org.