News

On July 16, the Religious Archives & Collections Interest Group was invited to the Harold Washington Library’s Special Collections to view and discuss their religious collections and materials. We had a wonderful afternoon of viewing a diverse selection of religious materials and lively discussion. Thank you to everyone who came out, and of course a huge thank you to Michelle McCoy and Beth Loch for their hospitality and time!

Harold Washington Library Special Collections Reading Room, photo by Doris Cardenas

Thank you to all our CAA and SLA-IL colleagues who braved the heat and joined us at ERIS Brewery and Cider House in Old Irving Park for a joint happy hour on Wednesday, July 23. We had 25 people mixing and mingling in the mezzanine. We were excited to help celebrate SLA-IL’s 100^th anniversary, and met colleagues from many different types of institutions. We hope you’ll be able to join us at upcoming events like this one. If you have future programming suggestions for CAA, please email info@chicagoarchivists.org.

On Friday, June 20, 2025, eight crafters gathered for CAA Craft Night. This is the second Craft Night that CAA has organized, the first being back in October 2024. The event was hosted at 205 West Monroe in the Chicago Loop. The collaborative archives space is shared by three religious archives: the Claretian Missionaries, the Cenacle Sisters, and the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

The reading room of the religious archives collaborative at 205 W. Monroe. Photo by Doris Cardenas

Snacks and drinks were enjoyed as well as a wide-ranging conversation that included topics such as the ethics of collecting far-right materials and the various methods of transferring embroidery patterns. It was a night of networking and camaraderie, and we look forward to CAA hosting more such events in the future.

CAA Craft Night snack table. Photo by Doris Cardenas

Free vintage crafting kits were available for the taking. Photo by Jerice Barrios

Maya Cázares, the 2025 recipient of the CAA Archives and Archivists of Color (AAC) Travel Fund Award, shares her experience attending the Midwest Archives Conference Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN:

I’m so grateful that I was chosen to receive the Archivists of Color travel fund to attend MAC!  I am an emerging archivist, currently in graduate school, and this is the first professional conference I’ve ever attended.  I had such a fantastic time!  It was great to hear technical and theoretical concepts put into action, and I loved learning about social justice initiatives that various institutions are working on.  I also really enjoyed connecting with a range of archivists at diverse institutions that I would not have had the chance to interact with otherwise.  I appreciated how friendly everyone was (classic midwest hospitality!), and how willing people were to introduce me to other archivists that they thought I would benefit from knowing.  I was able to make some really wonderful connections both within Chicago and in the greater midwest region.  I hope to continue to nurture these relationships by visiting these archives and getting more involved with CAA!

In the politically turbulent times that we are living in today, it is inspiring to listen to archivists that are doing impactful work that tangibly improves their communities.  I especially enjoyed the panel “Collecting During Times of Institutional Conflict,” led by some of my old supervisors at Indiana University Archives!  I found it really inspiring to hear the steps that archivists are taking to protect and preserve important historical events.  I was also really moved by “Open Wide Our Archives: Introduction to CROSS and Archives Advocacy in the Catholic Church” and “Decolonizing Archives Outreach and Programming.”  I am very invested in the use of archives for social justice, and these panels really opened my eyes to the possibilities and projects that are being done.  They discussed the importance of collaboration, elevating the voices of marginalized groups, and the impact that access to history can have on descendant communities.  Sometimes we can get so caught up in our day to day tasks that we forget the bigger picture– why are we collecting and preserving this history in the first place?  These panels in particular really reminded me that we do this work to bring diverse histories to light and make it widely accessible. 

Attending MAC really solidified my belief that I am heading in the right direction with my career and my life.  I want to do work that is meaningful to my community, improves access to knowledge, preserves history, and upholds truth.  What became clear to me by the end of the conference is that archives are a form of resistance!  Access to information and history is crucial.  Like it said on the shirts that many attendees were wearing– America needs archivists!

Thank you again to the Archivists of Color interest group for choosing me for this opportunity!

On the evening of March 27, about fifteen CAA members and friends received a free tour of the Art Institute's exhibition Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica, which included a large selection of archival material as well as many art forms. The tour was given by Adom Getachew and Antawan Byrd, two of the exhibition's curators and contributors to its catalog. Dr. Byrd was interviewed about the exhibition and catalog on the Yale University Press podcast: https://soundcloud.com/yaleuniversity/the-visual-history-of-panafricanism

April 11, 2025--CAA members who were in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the 2025 Midwest Archives Conference gathered on Friday evening at The Local, an Irish pub just around the corner from the conference hotel. Eleven CAA members enjoyed a couple of hours of drinks, pub food, and lively discussions on all things archival. Among them was the winner of the Archives and Archivists of Color interest group’s Travel Fund Award, Maya Cázares (second from the right in the photo). Thanks to co-hosts Jerice Barrios and Kaitlyn Griffith for organizing this meet-up!

On April 4, 2025, the Curation & Exhibitions Interest Group visited the Chicago Public Library’s Harold Washington Library Center’s exhibition Akito Tsuda: Pilsen Days.

The exhibition tells the story of Akito Tsuda and showcases his photography. Arriving in Chicago from Japan in 1988 at the age of 21, Tsuda enrolled at Columbia College Chicago in 1990. For a class photography assignment, Tsuda encountered Pilsen, where he was accepted in the homes and lives of the residents. Despite knowing only some English and no Spanish, Tsuda developed relationships with the people he photographed and made over 500 striking and intimate images in collaboration with the community. Exhibition project manager Johanna Russ guided CAA guests through the exhibit and shared insights into CPL’s exhibition development process.

Curation & Exhibitions Interest Group moderator Patti Gibbons and nine attendees participated in the event.

Please join us in congratulating the CAA’s 2025 Member of the Year award winner Patti Gibbons! Award winners were announced at the CAA Annual Meeting on March 19.

Patti is currently the organizer of CAA’s Curating and Exhibitions Interest Group. Since she assumed leadership in 2022, she has been active in planning both in-person and virtual events for the group. Along with Carol Ng-He, Patti co-wrote the book Exhibits & Displays: A Practical Guide for Librarians, which came out in 2021. Recently, she launched a new initiative called "On View: Exhibition Announcement" in which she has encouraged CAA members to share information about current and upcoming exhibitions in libraries and archives to help increase the visibility of their work.

Patti is the Head of Collection Management and Exhibits at the University of Chicago's Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center. She’s been a member of CAA since 2020.

Please join us in congratulating the Chicago Area Archivists 2025 Janet Olson Award winner Stephanie Giordano! Award winners were announced at the CAA Annual Meeting on March 19.

Stephanie became the CAA webmaster in 2010 and has worked tirelessly behind the scenes for many years to keep our website operational and useful for both our members and the public. She has been creative and resourceful, and her work has helped CAA grow and stay relevant and accessible. Stephanie's fourteen year tenure as webmaster was an unprecedented length for CAA, and we have all benefited from her long service to the organization.

Stephanie is the Heritage Communications Manager at Rotary International, where she leads a dedicated team of archivists, asset managers, researchers, and content creators in preserving and celebrating Rotary's rich 120-year history. She has been with Rotary for 17 years, and prior to joining Rotary, she spent close to 10 years working at various cultural heritage institutions in the Chicago area.

A member of CAA since before 2008, Stephanie has also served on the Steering committee and the business archives group subcommittee.

CAA’s 2024-2025 Annual Meeting was held March 19th at the Chicago Symphony Center. There was a robust turnout with 25 in-person attendees and another 10 joining us over Zoom. Updates were given by the Steering Committee and our subcommittees and interest groups. The Steering Committee candidates for this year gave statements in advance of the election. And, the Member of the Year and Janet Olson Award winners were announced.

We wrapped up the evening with a chance for members to meet with the various subcommittee chairs and interest group leaders.

Meeting minutes can be accessed here.

It was a great celebration of all CAA has accomplished in 2024-2025!