About the Work

I serve as the City Archivist for the City of Portland. The City Archives is situated within the Archives & Records Management Division of the Portland City Auditor's Office. I manage the Division, provide citywide leadership on archives and records management issues, and oversee our records facility, the Portland Archives & Records Center. Being part of the City Auditor's Office means that we play a large role in ensuring open and accountable government. I can think back to my first archives class at the iSchool with Dr. Gracy where I learned about the evidentiary value of records, and so much of my current work now revolves around that principle. We like to joke that we've got the receipts for the City. 

I love to see people using our historical records to advocate for their neighborhoods and communities. Researchers have recently used City records to press the Bureau of Transportation to improve traffic infrastructure in their neighborhood at a dangerous intersection, and our historical collections were also used as discovery materials last year by a group of Black Portlanders who successfully sued the City for displacing their families in the name of "urban renewal" in the 1960s. Seeing archives activated for change is the best part of our work. 

This position has also given me the opportunity to move into records management. Our division provides tools and guidance to ensure Portland City public records are compliantly maintained according to legal requirements regarding record preservation, access, security, and disposition. It's exciting to be able to work with records throughout their entire life cycle and understand how crucial records management processes are to ensuring public access to information. I enjoy taking City staff through the Archives then driving home that there are no cool old photos unless they retain their records properly! Working in City government allows me to see how deeply decisions made by City leaders impact residents, and I'm grateful to have a role in holding our government accountable to those we serve.

How the iSchool Prepared Them

The internships that I had during my time at the iSchool really rounded out my education. I worked at the Harry Ransom Center (under the supervision of iSchool alum Albert Palacios) which gave me opportunities in preservation, composing finding aids, digitization, and museum exhibition. I was a Purple Shirt TA in the IT Lab, which really expanded my technical knowledge and taught me how to write documentation, create tutorials, and train people on complex processes. I also got to work closely with the iSchool's stellar IT staff who taught me how to write code and build websites, a bonus education that propelled my career as I applied those skills to building online exhibits. 

I also had an internship at the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI), an organization that is dear to my heart. I learned so much about outreach, education, digital access, and media preservation in that position, and I developed a deep love for home movies (a topic I will still expound upon to anyone who will listen). It also taught me how to talk to donors and how crucial it is to build relationships with families that are entrusting their stories to you. Caroline Frick at TAMI gave me the gift of confidence and eventually let me lead the organization, which is how I developed management skills and learned how to support staff. Those professional experiences while I was in school did so much to inform my career trajectory and the archivist that I am today.

A Memorable iSchool Experience

I was a part of the crew that founded the iSchool podcast. Podcasting wasn't *brand* new, but it was new enough, and we felt like we were doing something very cool and innovative. And we were! It was a blast to start something with friends, learn to use the equipment, and learn how to sound edit. We got some great interviews that gave us behind the scenes access at places like the LBJ and KLRU. It was fun to talk to people in the field and produce something that could be shared.

Additional Reflections

I'll just share that my mom also went to the iSchool. At the time, it was called "library school," and her classes were in the PCL, but we hold the same Master's degree from the University of Texas. We both took classes with Dr. Gracy and Shirley Lukenbill. My mom taught school in East Texas, so in the summers, we'd move to Austin so she could take graduate classes. We did that every summer until she finished in 1989.

Advice for Current Students