DermWorld Academy Insider: Preserving dermatology’s history
Oct. 7, 2021
The American Academy of Dermatology has been around for more than 80 years! In that amount of time the organization has made a lot of history worth holding onto. In this DermWorld Academy Insider Exclusive, AAD Historian William D. James, MD, FAAD, who served as AAD President in 2010, discusses steps the AAD has taken to preserve its history as well as the history of the specialty.
DermWorld: What steps has the AAD taken to preserve its history?
Dr. James: When the Academy moved its headquarters in early 2018, we also had to move all our collections of historical records as well as various materials we’d accumulated. It became apparent during preparation for the move that while we had a lot of important material, it wasn’t well organized.
Once everything was in the new headquarters location, the entire AAD collection was assessed, organized, preserved, and documented. I worked closely with AAD staff and a professional archivist to sort through everything. The materials have been arranged into collections and are located in a new dedicated space at the Academy headquarters office; finding aids have been created for each collection, documenting what materials are included and how to find them.
The records in the archives are now organized according to topic and the areas of the Academy in which the records originated. A guide to the archives is also complete and includes procedures for archives management and future donations.
DermWorld: Why is it important for the AAD to have a well-organized historical archive?
Dr. James: The purpose of the AAD archives is to preserve the organization’s memory in its records. The records collected in the archives illustrate the purpose, activities, and development of the AAD. Along with long-term preservation, the purpose of the archives is to make the records and information they contain accessible to AAD staff, members, and other researchers interested in studying the AAD and its place in the history of dermatology. All documents, photos and items deemed relevant to the archives have been preserved in archival boxes, folders, and containers.
It’s also important for us to make choices about what we keep. We had gathered a lot of materials over the years that might be of historic interest but didn’t belong in the AAD archives. The NIH National Library of Medicine (NLM) expressed an interest in a number of books that we determined they didn’t belong in our collection. These books were pulled and shipped to the NLM as a donation. A donor note will be added to the bibliographic records and a special bookplate commemorating the Academy’s donation will be placed in each of the donated volumes.
DermWorld: Is the AAD’s history cataloged anywhere else?
Dr. James: Once the Academy history and archives were in good order, a timeline of important events in AAD history was designed and made into an eye-catching exhibit on the entry wall of the AAD headquarters office. The overall goal was to demonstrate the impact the AAD has had on dermatology and align it with our updated brand. The wall, which I worked with Dr. David Pariser to organize, shows how the AAD’s core missions and values came to be and how the Academy has evolved to meet the needs of its members. You can watch a video below that shows the wall being installed!
Are you holding onto a piece of the AAD’s history? Let us know using the form below. Contact Brittany Whaley to learn more.
