Donnelly Walton, The University of Alabama’s interim archivist and curator of southern history and culture collections, arrived at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, June 16 to attend the Archives Leadership Institute, a recognition and preparation for her role as one of a carefully curated group of 25 emerging and innovative leaders.
Walton, who was formerly the University’s archival access coordinator, has held her position at the University since 2011 and has been an archivist at the University since 2001.
“I lead an amazing team of faculty and staff that runs the University Archives and records management program, provides reference services to patrons in the reading room, as well as via telephone and email, and the team that arranges, describes and provides access to photographs, manuscript collections, university records, artifacts and other materials,” Walton said.
Since content, rather than format, determines a record’s value, archivists are now responsible for documents of all types in all settings. The Archives Leadership Institute exists to provide advanced training for archivists, giving them the knowledge and tools to transform the archival profession in practice, theory and attitude.
“The Archives Leadership Institute’s Steering Committee, supported by a National Historic Papers and Records Commission grant, selects 25 emerging archival leaders who then attend the Leadership Intensive, a week-long immersion program,” Walton said. “This year Luther College, in beautiful Decorah, Iowa, hosted the event that included outside speakers and facilitators who lead us through five topics: team building, project management, born-digital records, strategic planning and advocacy and awareness.”
Walton said her week at the institute was exhilarating, inspiring and exhausting.
“The Steering Committee members and 25 participants lived together in senior dorms, ate all meals together and traveled together on the three-hour drive to and from the airport,” Walton said. “By the end of the week, we had shared an unbelievable week of discovery, collaboration and laughter.”
Walton will continue to work with her colleagues from the 2013 institute and with a mentor from the Steering Committee, as well as using her new knowledge practically.
“Part of the commitment to ALI includes the completion of a practicum that will allow me to use the knowledge I gained from the [Leadership] Intensive and apply it to a real-world situation,” she said.
The ALI is the latest in a series of enduring and valuable archival experiences for Walton, who was introduced to the profession as an undergraduate at Auburn University. After taking an introductory archives course, she learned of a job at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Ala.
As a senior, Walton was awarded a Junior Fellowship at the Library of Congress’ Manuscripts Division. She trained under an archivist who was processing the papers of Daniel Boorstin, the librarian of the Library of Congress during much of the 1970s and 1980s.
“I met Dr. Boorstin, who gave me some of his classic works, with inscriptions,” she said. “This once-in-a-lifetime experience solidified my interest in the archival profession.”
After earning a Master of Arts in History, with a focus on archival studies, from Auburn, Walton worked for the University of Alabama in Birmingham and then the University Libraries.
Walton said the job came with some fun and rare perks.
“What history student wouldn’t want to hold George Washington’s diary or read Thomas Jefferson’s personal recipe for ice cream?” Walton said. “Archivists identify, preserve and make available for use records of enduring value. Simply put, we take care of important records and ensure that they are available when people need them.”
