This post is part of the Intergenerational Conversations series.

By Rose Buchanan and Stephanie Luke, Reviews Co-Editors [PDF Full Text]

“It’s hard not to feel a sense of stagnation when looking back. Archives and archivists are still underfunded, understaffed, and under constant scrutiny by institutions and the public, all of them ready to justify cutbacks and demand greater sacrifices if they sense an opportunity to cut costs or fulfill an agenda.” — Samantha Cross, “Found in a Pop Culture Landscape”[1]

“Yet. . . this is perhaps the value of looking back: not only to see what has changed, but more importantly to see what has not, and to allow that long arc of stagnation to spur us toward progress.” — Caitlin Birch, “The Manager and the Archivist: Robert Bahmer’s Presidential Address and its Relevance Six Decades Later”[2]

Over the past year, the Intergenerational Conversations series[3] has revisited ten Society of American Archivists (SAA) presidential addresses delivered between 1940 and 1997. These pieces reflect what past SAA leaders identified as the most pressing professional issues of their day. By capturing distinct moments in SAA’s history and the history of the archives field writ large, the addresses offered our contributors the chance to explore key themes, persistent challenges, and emergent trends that continue to impact the profession today.

From Waldo G. Leland’s discussion of emergency preparedness in 1940[4] to William D. McCain’s call for more robust records management in 1952,[5] many early addresses focused on the practical challenges of storing and caring for archival records. Over time, records-centered tasks and issues, while not disappearing from the addresses, increasingly took a back seat to broader considerations about the meaning and value of archives in a diverse, constantly changing society. From the 1970s onward especially, SAA presidents often focused on archival users, tackling such topics as public (dis)trust in archives and users’ (mis)perceptions of archivists.[6] Regardless of the year, however, these leaders consistently reflected on archivists ourselves: our skill set and training, our demographics and representativeness, our role in outreach and advocacy, and our future as a profession and a community.

In revisiting these addresses, our ten contributors offered their own thoughts about the ways that the archives field has—or has not—changed over time. Their reflections reveal a certain tension between frustration, on one hand, and hope on the other. “The more things change, the more they stay the same” was a common theme among contributors, especially when it came to discussions about funding and resource availability.[7] Contributors also noted areas where the profession has made progress but still has room to improve; for instance, several celebrated growing diversity among archivists but decried persistent barriers to entry for many interested in the field.[8] Despite these challenges, many contributors offered hopeful messages about the future and calls to action for the archives community—much like the SAA presidents who preceded them. Genevieve Preston’s conclusion is just one example:

My hope, and belief, is that we are ever evolving as a profession, just as we are as human beings. We can anticipate goodness by being flexible and open to change and to the belief that others want the same changes, and we can work to improve acceptance, inclusion, and representation not just for our own profession and institutions but also for the betterment of all.[9]

As we conclude the second iteration of Intergenerational Conversations, we also look ahead to our third series, which will focus on social history, social memory, and social justice. This series will center on articles from American Archivist that have explored these topics, helping to situate the profession in a discourse of archival advocacy and change. We hope you will join us as we continue to reflect on the enduring values of the archives profession and how these values shape our collective future.

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[1] Samantha Cross, “Found in a Pop Culture Landscape,” Intergenerational Conversations series, July 25, 2024, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/2024/07/25/found-in-a-pop-culture-landscape/.

[2] Caitlin Birch, “The Manager and the Archivist: Robert Bahmer’s Presidential Address and its Relevance Six Decades Later,” Intergenerational Conversations series, September 6, 2024, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/2024/09/06/the-manager-and-the-archivist-robert-bahmers-presidential-address-and-its-relevance-six-decades-later/.

[3] Intergenerational Conversations, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/intergenerational-conversations/.

[4] Shirley Franco, “Keeping Leland in Perspective: Archival Teachings Across Times and Boundaries,” Intergenerational Conversations series, April 22, 2025, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/2025/04/22/keeping-leland-in-perspective-archival-teachings-across-times-and-boundaries/.

[5] Courtney Bailey, “A Well Constituted Store,” Intergenerational Conversations series, June 1, 2025, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/2025/06/01/a-well-constituted-store/.

[6] See, for example, Ashley Williams Clawson, “Our Future Is Still Now: Revisiting David Gracy’s Presidential Address,” Intergenerational Conversations series, December 20, 2024, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/2024/12/20/our-future-is-still-now-revisiting-david-gracys-presidential-address/; Elliott Kuecker, “Trudy Peterson’s Speculation on the Textual in Archives in a Changing Literary Landscape,” Intergenerational Conversations series, May 24, 2024, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/2024/05/24/trudy-petersons-speculation-on-the-textual-in-archives-in-a-changing-literacy-landscape/; and Cross, “Found in a Pop Culture Landscape.”

[7] Clawson, “Our Future Is Still Now”; Cross, “Found in a Pop Culture Landscape.”

[8] See, for example, Genevieve Preston, “Future Goodness and Continuing Hope,” Intergenerational Conversations series, October 30, 2024, https://reviews.americanarchivist.org/2024/10/30/future-goodness-and-continuing-hope/.

[9] Preston, “Future Goodness and Continuing Hope.”