Righting/Writing the Wrongs in Archival Description

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Michelle Peralta

Michelle M. Peralta (she/her) is an Archivist Supervisor for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University where she primarily supports the arrangement and description of archival collections. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science from San José State University, as well as a Master of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from San Diego State University. Prior to her role at Yale, Michelle worked in public libraries and with community archives. Her interests include community-driven archives, reparative archival description, and teaching with archives and special collections.

Monika Lehman

Monika Lehman (she/her) is an Archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Monika has been part of the Reparative Archival Description Working Group since 2021 and co-chair since 2023. She is also a member of the Best Practices for Archival Term Positions working group and an associate editor for the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. Before her current position at Yale, Monika was a project archivist also at the Beinecke and an assistant librarian at San Jose State University. She holds a MLIS from San Jose State University, a MA in English Literature from San Francisco State University, and a BA in English Literature from the University of California, Irvine. 

Jennifer Coggins

Jennifer Coggins (she/they) is the Community Engagement Archivist for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. In this role, she helps community members preserve personal, family, and organizational records; promotes engagement with archival collections and practices; and supports local history work. She is also co-chair of the Yale Library’s Reparative Archival Description Working Group (RAD).  She previously served as the Archivist for Collection Development in Manuscripts and Archives at Yale and as Collections Management and Engagement Archivist in the University Archives at UNC Chapel Hill. She holds an MS in Library Science from UNC Chapel Hill and a BA in history from Wofford College. 

Amy Hietala

Amy Hietala is the Project Archivist and Manager for the American Revolution Papers Digitization project at Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. She has an MS in Library Science with a concentration in Archives Management from Simmons College—School of Library and Information Science and is a Certified Archivist. Amy was previously the Research Librarian at Old Sturbridge Village and the Librarian/Archivist at the Wood Memorial Library & Museum.

Sarah Morin

Sarah Morin is Project Archivist at the Connecticut State Archives, where she works on the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant project: Uncovering New Haven. As Project Archivist, she processes New Haven County and Superior Court records from 1666-1855, identifies cases involving African American, Black, and Indigenous peoples and groups, and creates finding aids and online subject guides using inclusive, conscientious, and reparative archival description. Previous to this project, she processed institutional and manuscript collections at the Connecticut State Library, the University of Connecticut, and two historical societies in Massachusetts. She received her master’s degree in library and information science, with a concentration in archival management, from Simmons University in January 2019. Before transitioning to the archival field, she worked for fifteen years in donor relations at colleges and universities.