Tawny Ryan Nelb to Be Inducted as Fellow of the Society of American Archivists
Here's a picture from 2018 of my friend Tawny Ryan Nelb guest lecturing to my HST 583 class about architectural records. I'm pleased to share the announcement below that she has been named a SAA Fellow for 2024. This honor is very well deserved.
CHICAGO—Tawny Ryan Nelb, president of Nelb Archival Consulting, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) on August 15 during an awards ceremony at the Annual Meeting of SAA in Chicago, IL. The distinction of fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.
Nelb earned a BA
in American Studies in 1975 from the University of Notre Dame in one of the
first classes that included women. In 1983, she obtained an MA in American
history. After serving as an archives and museum assistant at the Herbert
Hoover Presidential Library from 1975–1976, Nelb spent the next decade holding
increasing positions of responsibility at Yale University Library’s Manuscript
and Archives department. Beginning as a public services assistant, she became a
project coordinator of National Historical Publications and Records Commission
(NHPRC) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant-funded projects.
Nelb eventually served as the head of the Yale Architectural Archives Project.
In 1986, she became an independent archivist/historian. As president of Nelb
Archival Consulting, she has provided collection needs assessment analyses,
archives designs, processing plans, archives policies and procedures, disaster
plans, oral history projects, and book and grant writing for clients including
the Michigan History Center; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; UCLA;
Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia; and the new Indiana
State Archives building design currently under construction. She also provides
archival services for families and individuals.
Nelb's commitment
to the profession and service to others reaches from the local to the national
level. She is a past president of the Historical Society of Michigan and served
for eight years on the governor's Michigan State Historical Records Advisory Board
in Lansing, Michigan. She is a past member of the executive board for the
Midland Center for the Arts and served on the advisory board of the Midland
County Historical Society (MCHS) for eleven years before rejoining the advisory
council in 2021. During the same year, Nelb received the “History Hero” award
from the Historical Society of Michigan for her “extraordinary dedication to
community service and contributions to Michigan history.” In 2023, she was one
of the finalists for the Citizen of the Year award for her volunteer work in
Midland, Michigan. Within SAA, Nelb has had a profound impact. She co-founded
the Architectural Records Roundtable (now the Design Records Section),
co-taught numerous architectural workshops for the Society, lectured at many
conferences, and served for eight years on SAA’s Publications Board. Nelb has
also mentored many archivists, helping to build the next generation of SAA
professional leaders, and is recognized by her peers and her students as an
excellent and creative lecturer.
Nelb is
nationally recognized for having co-authored Architectural Records: Managing Design and Construction
Records, which won the SAA Waldo Gifford Leland Award in 2007 for
"writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival
history, theory, or practice." Her writings have largely focused on
promoting local history and advocating for the importance of archives in
community preservation. She has authored 8 books or booklets, including The
Tittabawassee Boom Company: A Mixed Blessing of the Lumbering Industry (2023),
and over forty articles on local history or archival management.
One supporter
wrote that Nelb’s “efforts to ensure the continued preservation, use and
promotion of our local community's historical record has been tireless."
Another complimented her work in May 2020 when MCSH's history center and
archives flooded due to a dam breaking, stating that Nelb’s tireless volunteer
work was instrumental in both immediate emergency recovery efforts and the
long-term securing of a consultant to guide them through the creation of a new
archive facility: "It is difficult to put into words the impact Tawny has
had on her local community as a professional archivist and as a mentor. She has
been an inspiration for what an archivist means to the community, advancing and
advocating for the importance of archives in preserving a community's history
and memory.”
Nelb is one of
seven new Fellows named in 2024. There are currently 198 Fellows of the Society
of American Archivists.
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