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By Veronica Martzahl

This is the first in a series of posts looking more deeply at the data in the State of State Records biennial report.

Although it has only been a little bit over a year since Archives and Records Management Survey, there is one area that has seen tremendous changes since then. That area is the tenure of the state archivist or similarly titled individual overseeing the operations of the programs. Below is a chart representing the data from the original survey including 52 respondents that shows how many current state archivists were appointed or hired each year. The earliest reported date was 2001.

Since the 2018-2019 survey was conducted, there have been changes in almost 20% of the institutions. Below are some highlights of the changes from the past year.

Arkansas: Director and State Historian Wendy Richter left the Arkansas State Archives. Julienne Crawford is the Acting Director.

California: Nancy Zimmelman Lenoil retired from the position of State Archivist. Tamara Martin is the current Acting State Archivist.

Kentucky: Beth Shields left the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives to become the Library Technology Unit Manager at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Commissioner and State Librarian Terry L. Manuel is currently overseeing the Archives as well.

Tennessee: While Chuck Sherrill is still the State Librarian and Archivist for Tennessee, there has been a change in the important Assistant State Archivist position. Jami Awalt has taken over from Wayne Moore, who retired last summer.

Louisiana: Louisiana was one of the two respondents that listed their top position as vacant at the time of the ARM Survey. Catherine J. Newsome now holds the State Archivist and Executive Director position.

Maine: Long-time State Archivist David Cheever is still with Maine’s government, but he is now a Special Assistant for Outreach and Civic Engagement in the Secretary of State’s Office. The state archivist position is appointed by the Maine Secretary of State and needs approval by the state senate; in the interim Tammy Marks is directing the Archives’ activities.

New Mexico: Rick Hendricks is now the State Records Administrator for New Mexico. He previously held the position of State Historian.

Oregon: Similar to the situation in Maine, former Oregon State Archivist Mary Beth Herkert transitioned to an advisor position in the Secretary of State’s office. Stephanie Clark now holds the position of State Archivist.

Virginia: Former Wyoming State Archivist Mike Strom relocated to the Richmond area to join Sandy Treadway and her team at the Library of Virginia as the State Archivist and Director of Government Records Services.

Wyoming: With Mike Strom’s departure for Virginia, the Wyoming State Archives is currently looking for its next State Archivist. In the interim, Deputy State Archivist Kathy Marquis is leading the program.