The Society of California Archivists (SCA) Nominating Committee is accepting nominations for the following positions:
• Vice-President/President Elect* (3-year term)
This position assists and substitutes for the SCA President as needed. They serve the important role of Chair of the Program Committee, which plans and presents the Annual General Meeting each spring. In this role, they are supported by the Junior Director at Large, who serves as Vice Chair of the Program Committee. This is a three year term position on the Board beginning as Vice President in 2027, President in 2028, and then as Immediate Past President in 2029.
https://calarchivists.github.io/sca-handbook/02_Governing_Body/02-02_president.html
• Secretary* (2-year term)
The Secretary serves as both recording and corresponding secretary. They are the chief recorder and keeper of the records of SCA, maintain the SCA Handbook, assist the President in developing agendas for the Board and annual Members meetings, and take minutes for all official meetings.
https://calarchivists.github.io/sca-handbook/02_Governing_Body/02-04_secretary.html
• Membership Director* (2-year term)
The Membership Director keeps records and data relating to all membership functions, including but not limited to processing all membership applications and payments, preparing and distributing membership renewal notices, maintaining and updating new welcome member notifications, liaising with all SCA committee chairs to provide membership lists and other information as needed, and planning and hosting new member events at the AGM in coordination with the Local Arrangements Committee. The Membership Director also serves as the Chair of the Membership Committee.
https://calarchivists.github.io/sca-handbook/02_Governing_Body/02-07_membership-director.html
• Director-at-Large* (2-year term)
There are two Directors who represent the membership at large on the SCA Board. The junior Director serves as Vice Chair of the Program Committee and Records Retention Coordinator. In their second year as senior Director, they serve as an advisory member and Board liaison to the Local Arrangements Committee. Each Director serves staggered two year terms.
https://calarchivists.github.io/sca-handbook/02_Governing_Body/02-08_directors-at-large.html
• Nominating Committee Member (2-year term)
The Nominating Committee is made up of two elected members, serving staggered two year terms, and chaired by the Immediate Past President. They solicit candidates for all SCA elected positions including the SCA Board of Directors and prepare a slate of candidates for offices falling vacant within a given year.
https://calarchivists.github.io/sca-handbook/03_Committees/03-12_nominating.html
*Board positions:
● Membership fees are waived for Board members during their terms.
● The SCA Board meets quarterly with at least one in-person meeting per year (sometimes two, depending on whether the AGM is in person or virtual that year).
● Board members are reimbursed for travel and lodging costs incurred in attending Board meetings.
● For the Board meeting held in conjunction with an in-person AGM travel is not reimbursed, but one night of lodging at the conference hotel rate may be reimbursed.
As a volunteer-run organization, SCA relies greatly on its members to not only operate as an organization but also to remain relevant and useful to archives professionals throughout the state of California. Serving on the SCA Board is an excellent way to both become more familiar with the archival profession in California and to have an impact on its future and the future of its members. Please consider serving in SCA or nominating a colleague for a leadership position.
Complete the SCA 2026 Candidate Nominating Form with your own name or the name of a colleague that you think would make a good candidate for service in SCA.
Please submit all nominations by Monday, December 1, 2026.
2026-2027 SCA Nominating Committee
Sue Luftschein, SCA Immediate Past-President (Chair)
Marlayna Christensen
Marissa Friedman
past-president@calarchivists.org
The Society of California Archivists (SCA) invites submissions of session proposals for our 2027 Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held in-person from April 7-9, 2027 at the Monterey Marriott in Monterey, CA.
The deadline for proposals is Monday, November 9, 2026 (11:59pm PT). If you have a particular topic in mind and are looking for co-presenters, please use the SCA AGM ideas spreadsheet to make connections.
The Program Committee invites your submissions, especially those based on next year's theme Archival Intelligence.
While recent technological advancements give us the ability to parse massive datasets, generate transcriptions, and draft preliminary metadata, they cannot replicate the core engine of our profession: human judgment, empathy, critical appraisal, and ethical responsibility. Rather than viewing technological tools as turnkey replacements for professional expertise, this theme re-centers the archivist as an indispensable resource. What frameworks or policies do you use to evaluate privacy, copyright, and ethical sensitivities that automated tools miss? How can archivists actively engage with AI tools while preserving core human-centered values?
Archival Intelligence encourages us to highlight our own roles as experienced decision makers and problem solvers. The Program Committee especially wants to encourage submission of sessions focusing on, but not limited to:
Possible session types include:
-- Panel Discussion: Session with a panel of three to four individuals informally discussing a variety of theories or perspectives on the given topic(s).
-- Traditional: Session with two to three fully prepared papers of fifteen minutes each and a comment and discussion period after the papers.
-- Lightning Talk: Fast-paced session with many concise papers presented under a tight time limit, with details of the limit determined by the proposer.
-- Poster Presentation: A summary of your research, scholarly, or creative project in a visually engaging manner. Presenters will be expected to be stationed by their poster at a specified time during the AGM to discuss the poster with viewers.
-- Alternative Format: Don’t feel confined by the prescribed formats - suggest an alternative or create your own! Sessions may take a variety of forms. We welcome your creative ideas about how your topic might best be addressed.
The Program Committee will review all proposals and contact the session chair mid-November 2026. All presenters are required to register for the AGM and may only present at one session.
Submit your proposals here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemg3qd_lw5itvcgHds0mvEprRfhmHhk8ACI2E7MSSYXYyLrw/viewform
SCA is committed to making the AGM welcoming and accessible to all presenters and attendees. If you need specific accommodations to support your participation in this event, please contact the Program Committee co-chairs Mallory Furnier, atvicepresident@calarchivists.org,or Christina Velazquez Fidler, at membersatlarge@calarchivists.org
Sincerely,
The 2027 SCA-AGM Program Committee
The Society of California Archivists (SCA) joins regional and national organizations including the Society of American Archivists, Densho, Chicago Area Archivists and the Midwest Archives Conference in expressing shared concern over the proposed closure of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regional facilities in San Bruno, California, Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington. These regional archives have served as vital resources for historians, genealogists, filmmakers, and the general public for decades. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues at NARA during a period of instability and forced downsizing.
We are particularly concerned about the imminent closure of the National Archives at San Francisco and its effect on local communities that rely on these historical records. First opened in 1973, the National Archives at San Francisco holds over 100,000 cubic feet of irreplaceable primary source materials dating back to before California statehood in 1850. Its unique collections include Alcatraz inmate files, comprehensive documentation of Native American residential schools and censuses, and vital records concerning maritime history. Critically, the facility houses immigration case files and records of those who arrived through the Angel Island Immigration Station, capturing the histories of generations of Asian American families and the impacts of discriminatory immigration laws. It also preserves the records of landmark legal decisions, such as the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark Supreme Court case, which established birthright citizenship.
Closing these archives and displacing these materials creates geographic and financial barriers for local researchers, descendants, and community members seeking access to their own history, families, and heritage. At the same time, archivists at the receiving facilities will be forced to deal with an overwhelming influx of unfamiliar records, inevitably creating backlogs for reference requests and public access.
NARA’s mission is to preserve public records to promote inquiry and strengthen democratic participation. At a time when informed engagement with history is critical to a healthy democracy, quietly closing regional facilities narrows the historical record itself. Furthermore, decision-makers have shown a lack of transparency with the public and the dedicated staff who preserve these records. Dedicated archivists who have spent years arranging, describing, and caring for these collections now face job loss. Downsizing permanently strips the institution of decades of deep institutional knowledge and specialized expertise that cannot simply be replaced or transferred.
Central to SCA’s core values is a commitment to free, equal, and transparent access to public information. Quietly closing facilities and stripping local communities of their physical history undermines public transparency, accountability, and equal access.
Together, we must support our colleagues, preserve irreplaceable institutional knowledge, and defend the principle that historical records belong to the communities whose stories they tell.
In solidarity,
Board of Directors of the Society of California Archivists
The Publications Committee is excited to announce the publication of the Summer 2026 SCA Newsletter!
Go to https://calarchivists.org/Publications/SCANewsletter to see what your colleagues have been doing.
#SCA2026 #SocietyofCaliforniaArchivists #calarchivists #SCAnewsletter
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the Society of American Archivists is developing an online exhibit that showcases the nationʻs rich, diverse, and challenging histories through the materials we care for in our repositories. We invite archival repositories across the states and territories to contribute one digital/digitized item to this exhibition. You can find more information about the initiative and the submission process on SAAʻs website. You do not have to be a member of SAA to participate.
Here are some of the submissions that weʻve received from California repositories so far (mahalo!!):
And here are some other submissions that illustrate the range of items repositories have been submitting:
Fort Lawton Proclamation, United Indians of All Tribes, 1970-03, submitted by the Seattle Municipal Archives
Hawaiian Soul (1987 documentary), submitted by 'Ulu'ulu: The Henry Ku'ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai'i, University of Hawai'i - West O'ahu
Letter from Julius Rosenburg to Ethel Rosenburg, dated April 30, 1953, submitted by Gotlieb Center, Boston University Special Collections
Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March - 5 April 1776, submitted by the Massachusetts Historical Society
Underground Railroad Pass in the Hand of Frederick Douglass, circa 1850, submitted by the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, & Preservation, University of Rochester Libraries
Photo of Rodinʻs The Thinker after damage from a bomb (many suspected the Weathermen of this action), 1970, submitted by the Cleveland Museum of Art
Jiro Kozai's 1939-1940 World's Fair Tickets & Invitations. submitted by the Japanese American Association of New York/Digital Museum of the History of Japanese in New York
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Play Fair Brochure (safer sex pamphlet), 1982, submitted by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Clyde Barrow Fingerprint Chart and Mughsot, 01/22/1928, submitted by the Dallas Municipal Archives
USS Missouri (BB-63) deck plan diagram from during the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in 1945, submitted by the Naval History and Heritage Command
If your repository would like to contribute an item, please email SAAAmerica250TaskForce@archivists.org to receive an upload link and a link to the metadata form. (IMPORTANT: Please email SAA even if you previously received a link from Preservica--that link will no longer be active.)
Society of California Archivists on behalf of Society of American Archivists
Learn more about our new Board members.
The clock is ticking – the 2026 Society of California Archivists Officer Election is almost over! If you haven’t cast your ballot yet, there’s still time to make your voice heard.
Voting Deadline: March 20, 2026
Head to your personal ballots in your email to cast your ballot!
Your vote helps shape the future of the Society of California Archivists and ensures that our leadership reflects the values and needs of our community. Don’t miss your opportunity to make a difference!
The deadline to vote in the 2026 Society of California Archivists Officer Election is fast approaching!
Don’t forget to make your voice heard in shaping the future of the Society of California Archivists. Your vote counts!
Let’s keep moving forward, together!
#SCA2026 #ElectionReminder #Vote #SocietyofCaliforniaArchivists #SCALeadership #YourVoteMatters #calarchivists
Host a Member-Initiated Meetup!
Member-initiated events are informal, in-person or virtual gatherings for members to connect, catch up, and talk about the organization. Funds are available to SCA members for refreshments and other expenses for casual meetups, happy hours, coffee chats, or regional gatherings.
Why host a meetup?
How it works:
1. SCA members submit a proposal to memberevents@calarchivists.org. Three weeks lead time is recommended.
2. Once you are notified that the event is approved, announce your event and gather RSVPs.
3. Be sure to retain receipts for refreshments or services purchased for your event.
4. At your event maintain a sign-in sheet. If more people attend than RSVPed you will be able to recoup more of your expenses for refreshments.
5. After your event, submit a reimbursement form (along with your receipts, sign-in or RSVP list) with a short report of your event to memberevents@calarchivists.org in order to be reimbursed for your event expenses.*
* Your report may be submitted to the SCA Newsletter to share the great activities that members are organizing. Photos of events are strongly encouraged!
Please see additional information here and get in touch with memberevents@calarchivists.org or membership@calarchivists.org with questions.
Call for Repository Tour Hosts
Are you interested in welcoming AGM attendees for a behind-the-scenes look at your repository? We’re seeking members across California who are willing to host informal tours of their facilities, collections, or workflows before and during the SCA AGM.
Tours might include:
To volunteer as a host:
Please email Local Arrangements at localarrangements@calarchivists.org and share your location, what you could showcase, and any scheduling considerations (best date & time, length of tour). All repositories must have an SCA delegate present for participant check-in.
Thank you for helping build a more connected and visible community—we can’t wait to share and visit the incredible work happening across California.
We invite you to help us recognize the outstanding work, service, and dedication of archivists and archival programs across California. Award recipients will be honored at the 2026 Annual General Meeting in April, and we hope you’ll consider submitting a nomination. Career Achievement Award For a colleague with an outstanding archival career in California, including significant contributions such as establishing archives, teaching, mentorship, or writing. Archival Award of Excellence For a colleague who has made an exceptional contribution to the archives profession in California within the past five years. Sustained Service Award For an SCA member who has provided exemplary service to the Society over a period of at least 12 years. Archives Appreciation Award For a California agency, organization, or institution that has provided extraordinary support for archival programs, including public service, exhibits, outreach, or arrangement and description. Thank you for helping us recognize outstanding archivists and archival programs across California. Please feel free to email the committee at awa...@calarchivists.org with any questions. Best wishes, SCA Awards Committee Esperanza Bey (UCLA) Kahlee Leingang (The Huntington) Leilani Marshall (Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History) Liane Schirmer (XCentricLA) Nicole Shibata (CSU Northridge) Christine Kim (California Digital Library), Chair
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