Seattle Area Archivists 20th Anniversary Celebration
June 23, 2005 – Sisters of Providence

This special meeting took place at Sisters of Providence St. Joseph Residence in West Seattle, home to Providence Archives and site of the first SAA meeting in 1985. Several founding members addressed the group of about 30, including former and current heads of Providence Archives, Sr. Rita Bergamini and Loretta Greene, respectively. Karyl Wynn shared memories as well. Members got a tour of the newly-renovated archives, and enjoyed a social hour replete with an archive-themed cake. Photos from the 20th Anniversary

Cold Storage at the City of Vancouver Archives – An Update
March 3, 2005 – Seattle City Hall

Sue Bigelow, conservator for the City of Vancouver Archives, discussed the archives’ experience with researching, selecting, and installing a cold storage system. This resulted in her Canadian Council of Archives publication, Cold Storage of Photographs at the City of Vancouver Archives (2004). Sue went through the chronology of the project, and gave detailed and practical information on preparing and packaging materials for freezing.

Behind the Scenes at the New Library
November 4, 2004 – Seattle Public Library, Central Branch

Jodee Fenton, past SAA Secretary and now head of the library’s Seattle Collection, gave an engaging tour of most of the library. Given its daring design, the building is full of fun stories and statistics. Everyone was impressed with the automatic book sorter, an intimidating apparatus of almost frightening efficiency. The tour ended with an in-depth look at the Seattle collections, including maps, vertical files, Seattle biographies and neighborhood history.