Labor Archives of Washington relieves 2021 John Sessions Memorial Award

 The References and Users Services Association of the American Library Association (RUSA) and the Department of Professional Employees of the AFL-CIO have announced that the Labor Arvhives of Washington, University of Washiington Libraries Special Collections have received the 2021 John Sessions Memorial Award.

Per the RUSA press release:

For its proactive efforts to reflect a more representative working-class history of the Pacific Northwest through its practices to address representation gaps in occupational communities, racial and ethnic groups, women, LGBTQ+ workers, and other historically marginalized communities. For its collaborative oral history project documenting workers in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The American Library Association’s Reference & User Services Association presents the 2021 John Sessions Memorial Award to the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. The award is sponsored by the Department for Professional Employees, AFLCIO. The Labor Archives of Washington is commended for its proactive efforts to reflect a more representative working Northwest through its collecting, processing, and class history of the Pacific descriptive practices to address representation gaps in occupational communities, racial and ethnic groups, women, LGBTQ+ workers, and other historically marginalized communities. Particularly impressive are the social justice virtual exhibits, bilingual finding aids, and oral history transcriptions. The Archive is also recognized for its collaborative oral history project with unions, faculty, and regional labor history organizations documenting the experience of workers in the pandemic: “Working in the Time of COVID19.”

The John Sessions Memorial Award, sponsored by the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, consists of a plaque and recognizes a library or library system which has made a significant effort to work with the labor community and by doing so has brought recognition to the history and contribution of the labor movement to the development of the United States.

The selection committee was Chaired by Bobray Bordelon.