This year marks the 10th anniversary of the landmark publication Perspectives on Women’s Archives; this roundtable discussion will provide updated perspectives from Midwest women’s archivists on issues relevant to all repositories, seeking to sow seeds of inspiration and invention for a new generation of practitioners.
Presenters will begin with brief remarks on the institutional history of their collections, comparing and contrasting the missions and evolutions of three of the major women’s archives in the Midwest. The ensuing discussion will elicit a feminist perspective on several areas of archival practice, including donor relations, collections development and management, and outreach. For example, in discussing donor relations, presenters will discuss topics like the disproportionate prevalence of imposter syndrome among women donors who do not feel worthy of archival preservation. In discussing collections development, presenters will reflect on how even collections designed to address the underrepresentation of women in archives have perpetuated the absence of women of color, working-class women, disabled women, and other groups, and how we as practitioners have sought to acknowledge and repair that silencing through our archival work. In conclusion, presenters will speak to the future of women’s archives, considering questions such as: how has the meaning of the exclusively “women’s space” changed with the advancement of trans liberation and resulting backlash? How will women’s collections be affected by recent laws targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives? And what do women’s archivists see as the biggest challenges facing us in our work to preserve the history of Midwestern women?
