Gateway to the West: #OMAMAC
Spring is in the air and it’s the time of year for
archivists across the Midwest to commiserate and share innovations and stories
from their institutions. The Midwest
Archives Conference occurred in Omaha, Nebraska last week, and I was
fortunate enough to attend. Having never been to Omaha I was not sure what to
expect of the city, but it is a lovely town with a rich history.
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| Chief Standing Bear |
“…Ponca chief Standing Bear, who, in 1877, was forcibly removed
along with his tribe from his Nebraska homeland and marched to what was then
known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). In an attempt to honor his son’s
dying wish to be returned to their traditional burying ground, Standing Bear
gained access to the United States court system, and the ensuing landmark trial
in 1879, held in Omaha, established the “personhood” of Native Americans under
the Constitution.”
Starita and Lesiak passionately described the conditions of
the forced march. They also showed clips of the trial reenactment from their
PBS documentary Standing Bear’s
Footsteps. The entire video is available on PBS’s website, and I encourage
you to watch it.
Conferences are full of interesting sessions on a variety of
topics, and this year I wanted to hear about unique projects and perspectives within
my field. While completely different topics each touched on the outreach aspect of my job. I attended:
- Cross Disciplinary Instruction: Course Engagement Beyond the History Major
- Listen In: Podcasting in the Archives
- It Takes a Village: Building Professional Capacity through Informal Peer Networks
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| Sculpture from the Kaneko's exhibit Passion and Obsession: From the Collection |
MAC also had a reception where we ate, drank, and mingled
with our colleagues. In the Old Market of Omaha is the Kaneko, an institution intended to be a
creative space for artists across the world. As a work place, exhibit space,
educational center, and archives the Kaneko offers a lot to the people of
Omaha.
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| Mission statement of the Queer Omaha Archives |
There is an important art scene in Omaha which was made clear
to me on my historic walking tour. We stopped during the tour to warm up a
little at the Bemis Center for
Contemporary Art and met the curator. He asked in an excited tone: “Are you
guys archivists?” Turns out he worked for an Omaha archivist who established
the Queer Omaha Archives.
On
display at the Bemis is a small selection of artwork donated to the archives
and a large description of the mission of the archives. I found this visit
extremely important because archives across the world should be working to
include records of marginalized groups, such as the LGBTQI+ community.
Overall, MAC was wonderful and I look forward to attending
next year in Chicago!
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