June 13, 2005 Board Meeting

The annual meeting of the Capital Area Archivists was held on Monday, June 13, 2005 at the Daughters of Charity DePaul Provincial House in Menands, New York.

Amy Schindler, President, called the meeting to order at 4:45 pm.

1. Elections held
Paper ballots were passed out and those members in attendance voted on the renewal of terms for three Board members: Jean Root Green, Bonita Weddle, and Geoffrey Williams.

2. NHPRC Update
Bonnie Weddle reported that the House T-THUD Subcommittee will be marking up the National Archives budget this week. Although it is likely that the Committee will restore some funding for the National Historic Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), it may not restore all of it. If this is the case, New York archivists are urged to contact Senators Clinton and Schumer to ask them to restore full funding for the NHPRC. Also, anyone in Rep. Sweeney’s district is asked to contact him as soon as possible to express support for NHPRC funding. For more information on this issue, Bonnie recommended that people visit www.savearchives.org or SAA’s web site at www.archivists.org. Amy Schindler reminded the Board that CAA sent a letter to the New York congressional delegation in April in support of the restoration of NHPRC funding. (Secretary’s note: On June 15, T-THUD voted to restore NHPRC funding at $5.5 million for grants and $2 million for administration.)

Amy Schindler announced that she, representing CAA, has sent letters to Senators Clinton and Shumer. She reiterated that those CAA members in Rep. Sweeney’s should make contact as quickly as possible.

3. Announcements
Geoff Williams announced that a hands-on Disaster Preparedness workshop will be held in Cicero, NY on June 17. Cost is $15. Let Geoff know by June 15 if you plan to attend.

Geoff Williams announced that a move is afoot at the New York State Historical Records Advisory Board to change the funding formula for the Documentary Heritage Program. The funding was set at $500,000.00 in 1990. The SHRAB is advocating that funding be raised to take into account inflation over the last 15 years and for education to be added to one of the primary funding areas.

Rachel Donaldson reported that the 2005 Archives Dinner will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2005 at the Italian-American Community Center on Washington Ave. Extension in Albany. The speaker will be Jim O’Toole of Boston College, formerly of the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. He will be speaking on ethical dilemmas that face archivists and records managers, especially related to access to records. Tickets are $30.

4. Welcome by Sister Margaret Ahl
Sister Margaret Ahl of the Daughters of Charity welcomed the CAA members to the DePaul Provincial House and announced that tours of the building and archives facility would be available following the CAA program.

5. Roundtable Discussion
The CAA program featured speakers who work or volunteer in the archives of local religious archives. Speaking in a roundtable format were Jim Folts of the First Church in Albany (Reformed), Karen Staulters of the Troy Conference of the United Methodist Church, Lee Stanton of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church of Albany and Kevin O’Connor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Each speaker spoke briefly on the history of their institution, their collections and unique problems that they face in their archives. Following the discussion, they took questions from the audience.

Adjournment and Tours of the DePaul Provincial House

Respectfully submitted,
Rachel Donaldson