The Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) is a regional

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

association serving the

Midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

region of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. MAC was founded in 1972 and held its first fall meeting in th
Bismarck Hotel
in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. While MAC has over 800 members from various states and countries, the MAC region is composed of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. MAC holds annual conferences with roundtables, panels, and workshops targeted towards archivists, curators, and librarians. Conferences have addressed such topics as federal funding for archives, documenting social history through the records of various ethnic groups, conservation, and data reporting standards for archival institutions. Other presentations have discussed how an archives can tie into their parent institution's anniversaries and big events, or how to make popular music collections a part of your archives. Annual meetings include informational sessions and notable plenary speakers, such as Pulitzer Prize winning author Leon Dash, who spoke at the 2006 Annual Meeting in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

. Annual conferences also often include themes, such as "Documenting Rural America" (the theme of the 1986 conference held in

Hudson, Wisconsin Hudson is a city in and the county seat of St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 14,755. It is part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. History Several Li ...

History

The Midwest Archives Conference officially began in May 1972 with 111 members although the idea of a regional conference had been discussed as early as the 1971

Society of American Archivists The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist Voluntary association, association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Establi ...

meeting in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. At a second meeting on September 29–30 MAC adopted a constitution, amendments, and elected officers and Council members. The ''MAC Newsletter'' began quarterly publication in January 1973. Due to the efforts of Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler and others MAC began publishing its scholarly journal, ''The Midwestern Archivist'' (later ''Archival Issues)'', in 1976 . An early review of ''The Midwestern Archivist'' by Trudy Huskamp Peterson notes that the first two issues included only articles and book reviews, with plans to include additional material in later issues.

Publications

MAC offers the following publications: *''The Midwestern Archivist'' (1976–1991) *''Archival Issues'' (1992–current) *''MAC Newsletter'' (1973–current)

MAC presidents

Source: *1972–1975: Archie Motley *1975–1977: Jacqueline Haring *1977–1979: Mary Ann Bamberger *1979-1981: Nicholas Burckel *1981–1983: Patrick Quinn *1983–1985: James Fogerty *1985–1987: Mary Janzen *1987–1989: William Maher *1989–1991: Nancy Lankford *1991–1993: Valerie Gerrard Browne *1993–1995: J. Frank Cook *1995–1997: Mark Greene *1997–1999: Pat Michaelis *1999–2001: Frank Boles *2001–2003: Cheri Thies *2003–2005: Steve McShane *2005–2007: Elisabeth Wittman *2007–2009: Dennis Meissner *2009–2011: Tanya Zanish-Belcher *2011-2013: Ellen Swain *2013–2015: Amy Cooper Cary *2015–2017: Jennifer Johnson *2017–2019: David McCartney *2019–2021: Erik Moore *2021-2023: Tamar Chute *2023-2025: Jennie Thomas

References

External links

*
Archival IssuesMAC Newsletter
{{Authority control Academic conferences Archivist associations Recurring events established in 1972 Midwestern United States 1972 establishments in the United States Professional associations based in the United States Organizations established in 1972