The Library will welcome a new College Archivist this fall!

The Library and Knowledge Commons are thrilled to welcome Jessica C. Neal (Jes), who will be joining us as College Archivist on September 9 just as the fall semester gets underway.    We were able to hire Jes in a one-year position through generous funding from our Mellon grant for the Library and Knowledge Commons.    Here’s a little bio about Jes below; we look forward to welcoming her in person in September.

Jessica C. Neal (Jes) is a millennial from Mobile, AL and has experience working in academic libraries and archives, historical societies, federal government, and private sector organizations. She received her B.A. in African World Studies from Dillard University and her MLIS in Archival Studies from the University Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As a Black and queer archivist, her work seeks to identify alternative and inclusive entry points into the concept and practice of archiving that seeks to be descriptive, corrective, and prescriptive for marginalized communities. Jessica is passionate about partnering with communities of color to recover, document, and maintain autonomy over the processes in which their narratives are preserved and accessed. She is also passionate about building methodological criteria for preserving archival material, documenting social movements, and rendering the history of African diasporic communities. Jessica is currently based in San Antonio, TX, where she is the University Archivist and Records Manager at Trinity University. She is an avid reader, traveler, and Boston Celtics fan.  Beginning in the fall of 2019, she will be joining Hampshire College as their College Archivist.