Category Archives: Conferences / Meetings

2024 SOA Merit Award Winners

The SOA Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2024 Merit Award recipients! The awards were presented at the annual meeting on May 17.

Congratulations to Greene County Archives, recognized for their work to preserve the vital records of Greene County through the new Online Catalog System and Digital Repository.

Congratulations to the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, recognized for their work in preserving the archives of their hometown newspapers.

3 people holding awards

Photograph (left to right): Robin Heise, Greene County Records Center and Archives; Angela O’Neal, Columbus Metropolitan Library; and Larry Richmond, Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

Meeting Scholarships Awarded for 2024

The SOA Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce five scholarships awarded at the Annual Meeting on May 17.

Scholarship awardees, pictured left to right:

Jessica Licker, Ohio University (Student Scholarship Award)
Katie Gable, Kent State University (Student Scholarship Award)
Nikala Trujillo, Dawes Arboretum (New Professional Scholarship Award)
Emilie Cornelius, Central Ohio Technical College and The Ohio State University Newark campus (New Professional Scholarship Award)
Niel White, University of Denver (Ohio Preservation Council Scholarship Award)

The scholarship consists of registration to the SOA annual meeting (including lunch), a one-year SOA membership, and a $100 travel stipend. Look for articles sharing their meeting experiences in the fall issue of the Ohio Archivist newsletter!

Annual Meeting 2024 Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for the 2024 Annual Meeting: Archives For All: Enhancing Accessibility and Inclusivity, May 16-17! Register online or mail-in in this form (PDF).

This May, the Society of Ohio Archivists Annual Meeting is going hybrid! Join us on Thursday, May 16 for virtual sessions, and on Friday, May 17 at Capital University in the Harry C. Moores Student Union, 745 Pleasant Ridge Ave., Columbus, Ohio, for a full day of in-person presentations, networking, and an exciting keynote speaker (select sessions streamed to virtual attendees). Continue reading →

Call for Proposals 2024. Archives for All: Enhancing Accessibility and Inclusivity

Society of Ohio Archivists Annual Meeting, May 2024

The Society of Ohio Archivists is planning a hybrid Annual Meeting on Thursday (virtual only) and Friday (hybrid), May 16-17, 2024. The in-person portion of the conference (Friday, May 17) will be held at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio. Continue reading →

SOA Council Minutes for August 2023 Available

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes from August 29th 2023, can now be found on the Council Meeting Minutes page.

Interested in SOA over time? Also on that page are minutes dating back to 1997. In addition to documenting actions from the leadership meeting, minutes include reports from the treasurer as well as from committees and task forces.

Questions about minutes? Contact SOA Secretary Shelby Beatty.

OLHA/SOA Fall Meeting 2023

OLHA/SOA Fall Meeting, October 6-7, 2023

The Society of Ohio Archivists is partnering with the Ohio Local History Alliance for the fall meeting, History as Necessity. Join us on October 6-7, 2023, at Quest Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Registration is now open through ~~September 22~~ September 30 (extended)! Sessions will discuss a wide array of ways in which collecting, sharing, and commemorating Ohio’s local history can, and perhaps should, become more central in the operations of our organizations.

The SOA track will take place on Friday, October 6. The Fall Meetings page includes more details on these tracks. View full details on the conference brochure.

Questions? Contact the Educational Programming Committee Cochairs Sara Mouch and Michelle Sweetser.

SOA Council Minutes for June 2023 Available

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes from June 27th 2023, can now be found on the Council Meeting Minutes page.

Questions about minutes? Contact SOA Secretary Shelby Beatty.

SOA Election Results 2023

During the recent Annual Meeting at the Dayton Metro Library new council members were elected.

SOA would like to welcome the following new leaders:

Melissa Dalton, Preserve It, LLC, President (2023-2024)
Matt Francis, Ohio Northern University, Vice President/President-Elect (2023-2024)
Shelby Beatty, Sinclair Community College, Secretary (2023-2025)
Kristen Newby, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Council Member (2023-2025)

A big thanks to the Nominating Committee. Also, thank you to everyone who participated!

Continue reading →

Meeting Scholarships Awarded for 2023

The Society of Ohio Archivists Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce four scholarships awarded at the Annual Meeting on May 12, 2023.

Scholarship awardees are:

Student Scholarship Award: Kirsten Dilger, Wright State University
Student Scholarship Award: Jacob Stickel, Wright State University
Ohio Preservation Council Scholarship Award: Colleen Badenhop, Kent State University
New Professional Scholarship Award: Paige Kinzer, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky

Four people posing for a photograph. They are the scholarship winners.

2023 Scholarship Awardees pose at the Society of Ohio Archivists Annual Meeting on May 12, 2023 (L to R): Jacob Stickel, Kirsten Dilger, Paige Kinzer, and Colleen Badenhop

Merit Award Recipients 2023

The Society of Ohio Archivists Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce two Merit Award recipients. The awards were presented at the Annual Meeting on May 12, 2023.

Photograph of three people holding plaques. These are the SOA Merit Award winners.

2023 Merit Award recipients: Warren County Records Center & Archives, accepted by Jennifer Haney Conover and Jenifer Baker, and Adam Wanter

Adam Wanter is honored for his outstanding service and dedication to ensuring that the Society of Ohio Archivists thrives. For the past several years, Adam has gone above and beyond to lead SOA through challenging times. Elected as Vice-President/President Elect in 2019, Adam stepped up to serve as president for an additional year when the current president
resigned. In his first year, Adam shepherded SOA through a transition in its leadership structure. In 2020, he directed SOA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to the murder of George Floyd. Under his watch, SOA pivoted to an online conference, increased its free offerings to members, began its hardship program, and oversaw the creation of the Social Justice Black Lives Matter Task Force. After finishing his extended term as president and time as past-president, Adam co-chaired the Educational Programming Committee which planned the 2023 Annual Meeting. For his efforts to lead and improve SOA, it is fitting that the Society of Ohio Archivists presents Adam Wanter with the 2023 SOA Merit Award.

The Warren County Records Center & Archives is honored for its work to make vital records such as birth, death, Commissioners’ Journals, and Common Pleas Court indexes available to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working from home, staff cropped, transcribed, and added metadata to these records, ultimately making well over 30,000 records accessible. Once back in the office, staff added metadata and images to the first twenty-four Commissioners’ Journals, which are key records to understanding the history of Warren County. They also finished a multi-year project to place all the Old Common Pleas Estate Packets online, a collection which included over 90,000 searchable images and is frequently requested by researchers. For its efforts to make important county records more accessible to researchers, it is fitting that the Society of Ohio Archivists presents the Warren County Records Center & Archives with the 2023 SOA Merit Award.

Congratulations to the 2023 Merit Award recipients! Visit the Merit Award page for more information and past award winners.