Despite claims to the contrary, the work of an archivist has never been slow. In fact, archivists today routinely find themselves at the center of controversy as they attempt to corral the endless flow of digital material produced during the Information Age. The 2018 New York Archives Week Symposium will confront the tough questions, tackling issues like: What is keeping too much? What is keeping too little? What is posterity? Prepare to get uncomfortable as stories of quandaries, confrontations, and sleepless nights are bound to elicit that age-old question, “What would I do?”
The symposium, co-sponsored by the Center for Jewish History (CJH) and with generous support from the MetLife Foundation, offers a full day of presentations on studies, strategies, research, and analyses, with the aim of bringing together archivists, records managers, librarians, museum professionals, scholars, researchers, and the general public.
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
9 - 12 Registration
9:30 - 10 Opening Remarks
Rachel Miller, Director of Archive and Library Services, Center for Jewish History, NYC
Cristina Vignone, President, Archivists Roundtable
10 - 11 Keynote address
Anthony Clark, author of The Last Campaign: How Presidents Rewrite History, Run for Posterity & Enshrine Their Legacies
11 - 12 Session 1. The Jacket from Dachau: Curatorial Choices in discussing the Holocaust and Mental Health
A Safe Space for Uncomfortable Conversations: The Kupferberg Holocaust Center and the Jacket from Dachau Marisa Hollywood
Ben’s Mental Health after the Holocaust Olivia Tursi
Using Student-Centered Approaches to Engage Students in Difficult Content Cary Lane
12:15 - 1:15 Session 2. Uncomfortable Powers: Archiving Dangerous Knowledge
Omission and Obfuscation in the Soviet Archive Katherine Tsan
Watergate, Covfefe, and presidential records Katherine M. Wisser
SID today and SID Tomorrow: Releasing an Archive of Leaked Government Documents Talya Cooper
1:15 - 2:30 Lunch on your own
2:30 - 3:30 Session 3. The American Jewish Historical Society: 125 Years of Discomfort
Silences in the Archives Susan Woodland
American Slavery: A survey of documents in the Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society Tanya Elder
Post-War Ideals, and Archival Realities: Memory and Discomfort Elizabeth Hyman
3:45 - 4:45 Session 4. Uncomfortable Us: Archiving the Mirrors to Ugliness
Collecting Jim Crow: the Museum of the City of New York’s Collection on Minstrelsy Morgen Stevens-Garmon
We Were Never Who We Wanted to Be: The Representation of the Other in Early New York Court Records Geof Huth
Describing Historic Disabilities: practical suggestions for improved and respectful access in archival collections Meghan R. Rinn
