News

SJ4A Scholar Sierra King and Dr. Bharat Mehra Attend the University of Alabama’s Spring 2025 Commencement Ceremony, May 3, 2025, https://alabama.box.com/s/ricq2w8po3qfq3aj53mdojd7hz250x0r

SJ4A Fellows, Su Lan Sheehan, Tsinnijinnie Russell, and Maria Smyer, Attended Keep Calm and Save the Archives: Emergency Planning and Disaster Response Presented by the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists (SRMA) 2025 Annual Conference in Castle Rock, Colorado https://alabama.box.com/s/xrir2lcp85kmk6hu3xpbr8mp2l5ifk4t

SJ4A Scholar Sierra King Awarded the Juliette Hampton Morgan Scholarship by the University of Alabama, April 4, 2025.

SJ4A Fellow Zonia Zena Awarded Oolite Arts’ Live.In.Art Residency 2025, South Beach, Florida, March 19, 2025.

Mehra, B., Riter, R. B., and Canales, J. (under review). Professional Training Career Pathways of Emerging BIPOC Social Justice Advocates in Community-Embedded Archives and Libraries (poster abstract). Program of the American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition, June 26 – June 30, 2025, Philadelphia, PA.

Mehra, B. (moderator and organizer), Riter, R. B. (presenter and organizer), Canales, J. (presenter), Rave, N. (presenter), and Yang, S. (presenter). (under review). BIPOCs in the Archival Studies Social Justice Master’s Scholarship Program: Navigating Education and Post-Graduation Careers (Education Program abstract). Program of the American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition, June 26 – June 30, 2025, Philadelphia, PA.

Excellent Second Year In-Progress Updates for Mehra and Collaborators on the IMLS Grants (August 2024), SLIS Renewals: Volume 8, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama https://alabama.app.box.com/s/mzu2hkrbtzvf8ly8v18naz3qcuixlred

SJ4A Fellow Maria Smyer Participates in Hosting the 11th Annual Latino/a/x Book Festival at the Rawlings Library in Partnership with CSU Pueblo, Pueblo, Colorado.

Mehra, B., Riter, R. B., and Harris, R. (2024). Collaborations to Support the SJ4A Curriculum in Archival Studies and Social Justice Intersections: Training of Community-Embedded Paraprofessional Archivists Who Are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (paper). Proceedings of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) 2024: Ethics & Evolution of Truth & Information, Portland, OR, October 14-17, 2024.

SJ4A Fellow shady Radical (2024) Co-Facilitates the Pre-Conference Workshop, The Legacy of the Morton Theatre, in Athens, Georgia, October 2, 2024.

SJ4A Fellow Zonia Zena assisted in curating for “What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women Reading Room” as part of the Wopha Congress held at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, Florida, October 2024.

SJ4A Fellow Zonia Invited Lecturer at Texas State University, “Archives, Archiving and Making Art,” September, 2024.

SJ4A Scholar Sierra King facilitated a One Photo At A Time – Family Photo Archiving Workshop in collaboration with The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, September 21, 2024.

SJ4A Fellow Maria Smyer Presents Bringing Spanish Speakers In: Tips on Serving Your Spanish Speaking Communityat the Colorado Association Library Conference (CALCON) in Breckenridge, Colorado, September 6, 2024.

SJ4A Fellows Sandy Yang, Sierra King, and Néstor Rave Present Developing Justice Interventions in Archives in Response to Identified Needs at the SAA Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, August 14-17.

SJ4A Fellow Maria Smyer Presents Develop a Social Justice Interest Group at Your Library: Encourage Diverse Perspectives and Enhance Workplace Culture, at the symposium, Unshelving Voices: Empowering Libraries Against Censorship, in the Mexican Information Global Forum at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, August 6, 2024.

SJ4A Scholar Sierra King collaborated with Sixty Inches from Center to host Remember Me: Oral History + Storytelling Workshop at the 2024 Chicago Archives + Artists Festival: Embodying the Archive, Chicago, Illinois, August 4, 2024.

SJ4A Fellow Sabrina Robinson Attends the National Conference of African American Librarians in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 24-27, 2024.

SJ4A Fellow Sandy Yang Presents Confronting the Wicked Problem: Transforming Archives for Women’s Representation, Use, and Access at the SAA Research Forum on July 17, 2024.

SJ4A Fellow Sandy Yang Awarded the Donald Peterson Student Travel Award by the SAA and the Rick Burke Scholarship by the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium.

SJ4A Fellow Néstor Rave Participated in a Spanish Promotional Video for the Sandusky Library: https://vimeo.com/984624890

Dr. Bharat Mehra (SJ4A PI), Dr. Robert Riter (SJ4A co-PI), and Ron Harris (SJ4A Graduate Research Assistant) Present the Poster, Training of Community-Embedded Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the Archival Studies Social Justice Master’s Scholarship Program, at the Program of the American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition, June 27 – July 2, 2024, San Diego, California. https://alabama.app.box.com/s/9mygi57tdrex47xj22d3fapo7orvefka

Dr. Bharat Mehra (SJ4A PI), Dr. Robert Riter (SJ4A co-PI), Ron Harris (SJ4A Graduate Research Assistant), Angela Houser (SJ4A Practitioner-Mentor), and Sabrina Robinson, Sandy Yang, Su Sheehan, and Maria Smyer (SJ4A Fellows) participated in an Education Program entitled Training of Community-Embedded Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the Archival Studies Social Justice Master’s Scholarship Program at the American Library Association Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, June 27 – July 2, 2024. The presentation slides are available to view. Group Photo:
alabama.box.com/s/gv9g3lzpb4a702qxbux9mttpn3c6iuzl (Pictured from left to right are: Dr. Robert Riter, Sabrina Robinson, Ron Harris, Su Sheehan, Maria Smyer, Sandy Yang, Angela Houser, and Dr. Bharat Mehra).

SJ4A Fellow Iris Afantchao Attends the Rare Books and Manuscript Section 2024 Conference in Costa Mesa, CA, June 25-28 https://rbms.info/conferences/

SJ4A Scholar Sierra King Selected to Join The 3rd Cohort of Community Leaders in the Culture of Health Leadership Institute for Racial Healing https://www.wkrg.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/718768606/nches-culture-of-health-leadership-institute-for-racial-healing-announces-3rd-cohort-of-community-leaders/

SJ4A Fellow Sabrina Robinson Participates in Exhibit Finale at the Living Archives Celebration Event in Charlotte, North Carolina https://alabama.box.com/s/t5n00uw2rkbxclhyxpzt8rw0dbma1tl3

SJ4A Fellow Wayne Coleman, Head of Archives at Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Participates in Hosting Juneteenth: A Celebration for the Culture at The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Partnership with Urban Impact and Creed63 https://alabama.box.com/s/2a85rv5nhajdivpimxchg7xpbnyqqbn4

SJ4A Fellows, Su Lan Sheehan, Tsinnijinnie Russell, and Maria Smyer, Attended the 2024 Unconference: Archival Bodies Regional Conference Presented by the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists (SRMA) in Denver, Colorado https://alabama.box.com/s/d3bykm6e6nsebq1dajvsdergqv272oep

Mehra and Collaborators Make Great Headway During the Second Year in their IMLS Grants, SLIS Renewals, Volume 7, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama: alabama.app.box.com/s/8i3c3tvlzcg142qbc2yky48raew9pyz7

SJ4A Fellow Datricia Rollins Awarded the following Scholarships: ABAA Scholarship by Rare Book School, Blue Whale Books, the 2024 Nomadic Archivists Project Scholarship, the Mary Lily Research Travel Grant by the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture, and The Black Metropolis Research Consortium Scholarship Award.

SJ4A Fellow Jehoiada Calvin Publishes “Rejecting Neutrality: Reparative Description at the Johnson Publishing Company Archive” with Sixty Inches from Center sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/rejecting-neutrality-reparative-description-at-the-johnson-publishing-company-archive/

SJ4A Fellow Shady Radical, CA, Ph.D Hosts Women In Dance: Film Screening, Discussion, and Reception Program at Spelman College alabama.box.com/s/r1vetpmvc0w6ndotzaano05acos6a2gl

SJ4A Scholar Tsinni Russell Hosts SJ4A Fellow Maria Smyer at Denver Public Library for an Archives and Special Collections Tour https://alabama.box.com/s/wna18hwuyiv3nkx2cidbg0991z6cbjfp

SJ4A Fellow Wayne Coleman and SJ4a Scholar Charles Woods, III host the Men of Change traveling exhibition at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Birmingham Public Library /www.bcri.org/event/men-of-change-exhibit-opening/.

SJ4A Fellow Maria Smyer, Hispanic Resource Specialist of Pueblo City-County Library, hosts Latino/a/x Book Festival in Pueblo, Colorado https://www.pueblolibrary.org/latinobookfestival

Mehra, B., Riter, R. B., and Harris, R. (2023). (panelists). Bridging Gaps between Archival Studies and Social Justice Scholarship: Training of Community-Embedded Paraprofessional Archivists Who Are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Panel title: Translating Practice to Positively Transform our Information Workforce (The Archival/Preservation Education Special Interest Group Panel), Proceedings of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) 2023: Bridge the Gap: Teaching, Learning, Practice, & Competencies, Milwaukee, WI, October 2-5, 2023.

SJ4A Scholar Su Sheehan Presents: Year One – An Archives Apprenticeship at The Denver Public Library at the 2023 SAA Annual Meeting https://d1keuthy5s86c8.cloudfront.net/static/ems/upload/files/1689732211_P19_Year_One_An_Archives_Apprenticeship_at_DPL_poster.pdf

SJ4A Fellow Sabrina Robinson Awarded 2023 ALA Spectrum Scholarship https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2023/08/ala-awards-spectrum-scholarships-2023

SJ4A Fellow Zonia Zena Awarded UCLA Rare Book School Scholarship for CalRBS International: A Crossroad of Global Print History in Florence, Italy https://www.calrbs.org/courses/calrbs-international/calrbs-international-italy-2023/

Updated Progress on the Three IMLS Grants by Mehra and Collaborators, SLIS Renewals, Volume 5, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama: https://alabama.app.box.com/s/pyf4mar2q2bx5f2erfo5o6ggxb50nwgb

Mehra and Collaborators Make Excellent Progress on Three IMLS Grants, SLIS Renewals, Volume 4, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama: alabama.app.box.com/s/vlbhb6488tb82axeki7ez8gxgwhdnqqn

SLIS Launches Fully Funded Social Justice Archivists Cohort, College of Communication and Information Sciences, University of Alabama: alabama.box.com/s/vwjvt5cinb8l6sudzg22m9b1f1s8umiv

Mehra and Collaborators Launch Three IMLS Grants, SLIS Renewals: Volume 3, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama alabama.app.box.com/s/g7tz7c2dy2eaowkd6atx0cy8wsg0geej

SLIS Faculty Receive Over $1.2 Million in IMLS Grants, College of Communication and Information Sciences, University of Alabama: alabama.box.com/s/5ovz3v75fxl554kea8073njiff8pk3pv

Faculty Spotlight: August 2022, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama: alabama.box.com/s/32cp87jonvlj0lu82vm0of79541870mk