Society of Florida Archivists Annual Meeting 2026
Tides of Resilience and Growth

Annual Meeting Schedule

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

5:30 - 7:00 PM: Welcome Reception at the St. Petersburg Museum of History

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

List of Presentations (Times and Full Descriptions TBA)

• Archives Tabula Rasa: Notes from a University’s First Professional Archivist, Gino Pasi (University of Tampa)
• Perseverance Through Changing Times: A Case Study on Facing Challenges While Rebuilding the Ybor City Museum Society Archives, Gloria Rose Angelita Lopez (Ybor City Museum Society)
• Connecting Tampa Bay to the Archives: A Social Media Campaign to Promote Digital Collections, Alice Fabela and Jessica Miller (Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library)
• Making Archives Matter: Increasing Engagement Through Programmatic Planning, Alexandra Vargas-Minor, Gary Austin, and Kirk Mitchell (University of South Florida, St. Petersburg)
• The Trials and Tribulations of a Local Historical Society, Josh Liller (Loxahatchee River Historical Society)
• Becoming Shelf-Aware: Creating a Scalable Photography Project for a Historic Library Collection, Ayla Toussaint and Gibson Field (Vizcaya Museum and Gardens)
• Reflections on the First Year of the UNF Archivist in Training Program, Allison Mason, Anna Hobbs, Jennifer Bibb, Peyton Hudson, and Clayton McCarl (University of North Florida)

Poster Session

• A First-Year Experience Focused on Archives and Digital Editing at the University of North Florida, Oliver Douglas, Shadae Reid, Zoie Turci, and Clayton McCarl (University of North Florida)
• Creating a New Special Collections Center at the University of North Florida, Hilary Streifer (University of North Florida)
• Discovering the Artchive: Inventorying the Fine Art Collections of USF Special Collections, Caity Campbell and Emerson Elliott (University of South Florida)
• The USF Women's Club: A Case Study in Donor Driven Digitization Projects, Elizabeth Rossbach and Stephanie Mackin (University of South Florida)
• They Said There Might Be Leaks…, David Benjamin (University of Central Florida)

Other fun stuff

• Welcome breakfast
• Vendor introductions
• Networking Activity
• SFA Board Meeting
• Reception at USF St. Pete

Thursday, May 14, 2026 

List of Presentations (Times and Full Descriptions TBA)

• Recovery and Resilience: University-Community Partnerships in the Wake of a Storm, Catherine Wilkins (University of South Florida)
• Processing Grief and Preserving Community Response to Tragedy, Taylor Henning (Florida State University)
• Preserving Jacksonville’s Legislative History, Claire Manos, Erika Alfieri, and Jess Salvato (Jacksonville Public Library)
• East Coast Citrus, West Coast Citrus: Citrus Crate Labels in Florida and California, A Study in Comparisons, Kendra Belton, Samantha Redmond, and Jeffrey Zines (Florida Southern College)
• Archives Unlocked: Opening Doors to Discover, Chereeka Garner, David Benjamin, and Renee Cole Montgomery (University of Central Florida)
• Curating the Bicentennial: Collaborative Exhibit Design and Student Experiential Learning with UCF Public History Central, Shantelle Clement and Jessie Oldham (University of Central Florida)
• An Archive of Our Own: Building An Archive Amidst Hostility, Laura Hampton and Harrison Bender (Novo Collegian Alliance)
• Growing Collections, Improving Access, Evolving Practice: Lessons from a New AI-Assisted Digital Collections Tool, Rachel Walton, Wenxian Zhang, Liriam Tobar (Rollins College), and Lee Dotson (JSTOR Digital Stewardship)

Other fun stuff

• Luncheon with Keynote Speaker Dr. Ray Arsenault
• SFA Business Meeting

Friday, May 15, 2026

Post-Conference Workshops

• Finding the Flow: Employment Trend Updates & Job Seeker’s Workshop hosted by Carady Madden at USF St. Petersburg

• Provenance and Evolving Narratives at the Dali Museum hosted by Sarah Lynch at The Dali Museum

Post-Conference Tours

• Heritage Village Park & Museum led by Al Miller
• Stetson University Archives led by Brooke Smith
• Sunken Gardens
• Henry B. Plant Museum tour led by Selena Martinez
• The Dali Museum