“Handle with Care”
2023 Minnesota Archives Symposium
Minnesota Historical Society’s Minnesota History Center (MNHS), November 6, 2023.
All events in the second floor Education Wing at the MNHS unless otherwise noted. Program subject to change.
8:30am Coffee and Tea Break
Sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society.
9:00am Welcome, friends and colleagues!
9:15am Special Guest Speaker: Alvina Brueggeman on the Topic of Self Care
Alvina has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology, with a post-baccalaureate certificate in Complementary Therapies and Integrative Healing Practices. She has participated in a variety of yoga/meditation practices and has taught yoga/meditation in numerous settings. Most recently, Alvina has taught meditation to teens/pre-teens in the Juvenile Justice Center and Common Ground Meditation Center, as well as to adults in a non-profit yoga studio. Alvina has led stress reduction sessions in college settings and served one year as president of the University of Minnesota Mindfulness Club while attending graduate school. Her passion for teaching extends to college students whom she teaches as an adjunct lecturer in Holistic Health Studies and Psychology. Alvina is currently a quality improvement consultant at M Health Fairview. She explores justice work through an employee resource group focusing on leadership opportunities for BIPOC employees at M Health Fairview.
Guest speaker sponsored by Saving Tape.
10:00am Introducing the Minnesota Alliance for Heritage Response
Grant Wilson, Stearns History Museum Library & Archives
The Minnesota Alliance for Heritage Response MN-AHR is a newly formed network of museums, archives, libraries, performing arts organizations, historic preservation groups, and emergency responders dedicated to preparing for and responding to disasters affecting collections and historic properties across the state. The organization held its first event, Minnesota Heritage Response Training, in September 2022 with the support of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2023, its Board of Directors was selected and the organization formally approved its charter and by-laws. The presentation will elaborate on the organization’s future plans and the ways in which MN-AHR intends to provide resources to help cultural institution professionals prepare for a variety of disasters.
10:30am It’s a Safety Dance! – GLAM Security Surveys, Planning, and Implementation
Crystal Boyd, Golden Valley Historical Society
Safeguarding collections is mission-critical to archives and museums. Let’s explore three phases for improving security: surveys, planning, and implementation. We’ll also compare notes about funding sources, discuss writing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to find a security contractor, and examine local case studies.
11:00am Archiving Sacred Spaces: Building the George Floyd Global Memorial
Jeanelle Austin, Executive Director of George Floyd Global Memorial
Heather Carroll, Archiving Sacred Spaces Fellow at George Floyd Global Memorial
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was lynched by the Minneapolis Police Department. In response to this atrocity, neighbors near the intersection of 38th Street E and Chicago Ave S–where he took his last breath–cared for each other and the emerging memorial as a protest to racial injustice. This work of memorial caretaking created an ethic for collections care that is people-centered and formed the George Floyd Global Memorial. This institution is more than a home for memorial offerings and public stories—it exists to challenge and scrutinize an industry that marginalizes black voices from archiving their lived experiences. This presentation will invite listeners to consider how archiving a sacred space like the memorial at George Floyd Square creates opportunities for reimagining collections care as community care.
12:00pm Lunch
Sponsored by members of the Twin Cities Archives Round Table (TCART) and St. Catherine University’s MLIS program.
12:00pm-3:00pm Choose your own adventure! Activities include:
– Meet the MNHS Union!
Curious about the MNHS Union? Union members will be having lunch in the Heffelfinger Lounge on the first floor (across the hall from the ticket desk). Swing by, and ask them some questions!
– Visit the Our Home: Native Minnesota and Reframing Our Stories exhibits on the third floor!
– Take a tour of the MNHS Book and Paper Conservation Lab! (Prior registration required.)
– Have a chat with Saving Tape!
Thor Anderson at Saving Tape Media Conversion will be available in the Education Suite lobby to answer all your digitization questions.
2:30pm Sugar and Spice When Everything Is Not So Nice: Care and Consideration When Working With Emotionally Heavy Records
Meagan Kellom, Archival Collections Cataloger, Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS)
Joyce Lopez, Digitization Supervisor, MNHS
Perry Schussler, Government Records Archivist, MNHS
Anne Thayer, Reference Librarian, MNHS
Jennifer Wagner, Reference Librarian, MNHS
This panel presentation/discussion is focused on caring for all the people involved with emotionally heavy records in archives: ourselves, each other, researchers, and the subjects of the records. A panel of MNHS staff–representing different aspects of records’ life and use–will use government records as a case study to share ideas and focus comments.
TCART Business Meeting to follow