Sousa Archives Staff & Local Music Preservation Colleagues Attend 2015 Society of American Archivists Meeting

Urbana-Champaign Local Music Preservation Advisory Board (top left: Jennie Thomas, Scott Schwartz, Rory Grennan, Katie Nichols, and Andy Leach. Not pictured John Fleckner, Kenneth Kimery, Gabriel Solis, and Anke Voss.) “Out of the Underground” Session Panelists (top right: [back] Rory Grennan [front left to right] Gino Pasi, Jennie Thomas, Elizabeth Reilly, Lucinda Cockrell, Michele Casto, and Scott Schwartz.) Sousa Archives Staff (bottom left to right: Somer Pelczar, Katie Nichols, Hannah Jellen, and Scott Schwartz.)

The staff of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music had a successful week attending the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists which was held this year in Cleveland, Ohio.  The week began with the second meeting of the Center’s Local Music Preservation Advisory Board which took place on Wednesday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Library and Archives.  The conference reception was held at the wonderful Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Thursday evening, and a portion of the Sousa Archives staff donned their new hats to remind everyone that Sousa was America’s first rock star.  Finally on Friday, Rory Grennan, who has recently left the Sousa Archives to take a new position at Florida State University Libraries, and Scott Schwartz participated Friday afternoon on an exceptional panel presentation, “Out of the Underground: Documenting Your Local Music Community,” with archivists Gino Pasi, Wright State University, Jennie Thomas, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Elizabeth Reilly, University of Louisville, Lucinda Cockrell, Middle Tennessee State University, and Michele Casto, District of Columbia Public Library.   The Sousa Archives’ Urbana-Champaign Local Music Preservation Project continues to thrive under the new leadership of Katie Nichols who took over the project in July.