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SAA Names Three New Fellows
Elizabeth W. Adkins, Thomas
J. Frusciano, and Mark A. Greene were named
Fellows of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) on August 22, 2002,
during an awards ceremony at SAA's 66th annual meeting in Birmingham,
Alabama. Established in 1957 and conferred annually, the distinction of
Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded
for outstanding contributions to the archival profession. They join 139
current members so honored out of a membership of 3,600.
Following are citations given by presenters during the awards ceremony.
See also "And the 2002
SAA Awards Go To..."
(Pictured from left to right: Mark A. Greene, Elizabeth W. Adkins, Thomas
J. Frusciano)
ELIZABETH W. ADKINS, Global Information Manager for Ford Motor
Company, has been named a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists
(SAA), the highest individual honor bestowed by SAA. Established in 1957
and conferred annually, this distinction is awarded to a limited number
of individuals for their outstanding contribution to the archival profession.
She joins 138 current members so honored. Ms. Adkins was named a Fellow
on August 22, 2002, during SAA's 66th annual meeting in Birmingham,
Alabama.
In her professional work, her contributions to the archival profession
worldwide, and her personal integrity, industriousness, and generosity,
Ms. Adkins exemplifies the best attributes of an archivist. As one colleague
wrote in nominating her for this honor, "Elizabeth is the consummate
professional, combining excellent management skills and a visionary approach
to archival practice with a strong personal commitment to her profession
and the standards that define it. She has been a mentor for aspiring archivists,
an inspirational leader for her staff, and a respected colleague for members
of the archival community."
Throughout her career Elizabeth has worked in the field of business archives,
creating world-class programs in an environment that does not generally
place high priority on preserving historical records. However, through
her tireless efforts to establish archives as corporate resources, she
has solidified the position of the archives as a vital operation held
in high regard by senior management, most notably at Kraft Foods and the
Ford Motor Company. She has conveyed this sense of mission to numerous
archivists who have attended the Business Archives Workshops that she
has co-taught over the past decade.
Ms. Adkins has served SAA in many different capacities in the past two
decades. Currently the SAA treasurer, she has chaired both the Acquisition
and Appraisal Section and the Business Archives Section and has served
as co-chair of the Committee on Public Information and co-chair of the
1998 Program Committee. She has also been active in the Academy of Certified
Archivists, where she has served as vice president and president, the
Midwest Archives Conference, the Michigan Archival Association, and the
Illinois State Archives Advisory Board. She has contributed numerous published
articles on business archives, public history, and local history.
Among Ms Adkins' many achievements in international activities, two
recent accomplishments deserve special recognition. First, as Manager
of Archives Services for Ford Motor Company, Elizabeth devised and implemented
a plan to discover and reconstruct the archival record regarding the use
of forced labor at Ford's plant in Cologne, Germany, during the Second
World War. Not only did the final report of this project set "a new
standard for documenting corporate actions on a significant and controversial
issue," according to one of her colleagues, but she even managed
to persuade the company to change its restrictive access policies for
corporate records to "the more open access policy that generally
governs academic research institutions."
Second, as this colleague states, "as a result of her handling of
this project, Elizabeth so inspired the trust of senior management at
Ford Motor Company, that her title and responsibilities changed from Manager
of Archives Services to Global Information Manager." This is a significant
breakthrough in positioning archives as an essential program in a major
global corporation.
—Randall C. Jimerson, Western Washington University
THOMAS J. FRUSCIANO, University Archivist at Rutgers, the State
University of New Jersey, has been a member of the archival profession
for 25 years. Prior to joining Rutgers, he began his professional career
as an archivist at Educational Testing Services and then became the first
professionally trained university archivist at New York University. As
one of his nominators noted: "He is an exceptionally talented, dedicated,
and innovative archivist, teacher, author, editor, speaker, workshop conductor,
consultant, project director, and leader in the archival profession."
At Rutgers he reaches out to the campus to promote the visibility of the
archives. He has served as a faculty senator and adviser to the student
yearbook, for example. He does what all archivists need to do; he brings
the archives down out of the attic and demonstrates its usefulness to
all for instruction, research, and administration.
Over the years, Mr. Frusciano has bridged archives and historical research
through his writings. He is the co-author New York University and the
City: An Illustrated History (Rutgers University Press) as well as
a wide variety of articles on both the history of higher education and
archival practice. He has served on several editorial boards and is currently
co-editor of the new Journal of Archival Organization (Haworth
Press).
Teaching archives courses for both NYU's Archival Management graduate
program and Rutgers' School of Communications, Information, and Library
Studies, Mr. Frusciano has provided formal instruction and guidance for
a score of students, many of whom have advanced into the profession. Mr.
Frusciano has been an active participant in a number of professional associations.
At SAA, he has chaired the Description and the College and University
Archives sections and the Archival Education Roundtable, as well as served
on a wide variety of committees for SAA, MARAC, and the Archivists Roundtable
of Metropolitan New York. He has given numerous conference papers and
taught a wide variety of workshops, most frequently on descriptive practices,
but drawing teachers, researchers and archivists alike into a better understanding
of the use and keeping of archives. As another supporter said, "In
all that he does Tom communicates an essential lesson: that we belong
to a community; that we always innovate, collaborate, find ways to overcome
challenges, so we as a profession can carry out our essential work: processing
and making historical records accessible. I cannot think of a more valuable
service to the archives profession."
—Leon J. Stout, Pennsylvania State University
MARK A. GREENE is the director of the American Heritage Center
at the University of Wyoming. He began his career as archivist of Carleton
College, followed by 11 years as the curator of manuscripts acquisitions
at Minnesota Historical Society, during which he received two awards for
writing. Prior to joining the American Heritage Center, he was head of
research center programs for the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
in Dearborn, Mich.
As one nominator put it, "The heart of [Mr. Greene's] archival
contributions lies in his thinking and writing about the profession."
Another noted that, "he is one of only a few archivists who not only
have highly useful ideas, but also the ability to communicate and share
those with a wide audience through publication." He has written compelling
works on appraisal, access to records, Congressional papers, business
records, research use of archives, and even histories.
He is the co-author, along with Todd Daniels-Howell, of the article
"Documentation with an Attitude: A Pragmatist's Guide to the Selection
and Acquisition of Modern Business Records" in The Records of
American Business. It has been described as "the best article
available for archivists who take on the challenge of documenting enterprise
in America" and "has invigorated appraisal theory in the United
States."
Mr. Greene is active in national and regional archival associations. At
SAA, he is a mentor and has served as a leader of the Congressional Papers
Roundtable, Manuscripts Repository Section, Committee on Education and
Professional Development, and a recent member of council. Of his time
on SAA council, another council member said, "his values reflect
his deep commitment to and understanding of the profession, as well as
his respect for fundamental principles of human dignity, respect for work,
and equity." He is a past president and council member of the Midwest
Archives Conference (MAC), and a workshop instructor. As chair of the
MAC Editorial Board, Mr. Greene has actively sought out articles and nurtured
the lesser ones, and the works that he oversaw "are among the best
that MAC has ever published." This level of service to the archival
profession is a standard for him. As one nominator put it, "he has
always retained a higher degree of interest in learning from others than
in imparting what he knows. As a result, he is seen by many in the field
as a standard bearer of collegiality at a time when the profession is
growing beyond the limits of easy interpersonal familiarity."
—Bruce Bruemmer, Cargill
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