Welcome Remarks for Archivist’s Awards Ceremony
Welcome to the Archivist’s Awards Ceremony! And Happy Public Service Recognition Month to everyone across the National Archives!
Since 1985, the first week of May has been set aside to honor the men and women who serve our nation as Federal, state, county, and local government employees. This year, we decided to expand to a whole Public Service Recognition Month, allowing us both to participate in the nationwide events and to honor your service to the American public with the due measure it deserves. I’d like to thank all of you for your passion and dedication to serving NARA’s mission and the American people.
Because the good work of this agency takes place in all our facilities across the nation, we sent NARA executives to Dayton, Riverside, Fort Worth, St. Louis, San Bruno, Lenexa, Valmeyer, as well as the Obama Library at Hoffman Estates and the Clinton Presidential Library so they can congratulate Archivist’s Award winners in person.
During this ceremony, we will give our customers a chance to sing your praises. Almost every day I receive comments praising the staff, so we are going to incorporate some of those statements in today’s program. You will be hearing directly from the people who benefit from the great work that you do. We will have videos interspersed throughout the ceremony.
The Archivist’s Awards Ceremony is important to me. This event honors the remarkable work that happens at this agency every single day. And it gives me the opportunity to highlight some of your amazing accomplishments and the chance to say thank you. You are the most dedicated group of people. You take tremendous pride in the work you do, and rightfully so. And I am proud of what you do each and every day.
This past year….You scanned a lot of pages for the National Archives Catalog; provided great customer service to House and Senate staffs; moved lots of Obama Presidential Materials; digitized and made available hundreds of reels of World War I and World War II footage; cultivated public participation through social media; assisted Puerto Rico’s archives and cultural institutions in their post-hurricane recovery; modernized the General Records Schedule; and developed and produced the Declarations@NPRC newsletter. And these are just a few examples! You will find out more about these incredible accomplishments as the ceremony continues.
We had 72 nominations for awards this year. Today, we recognize our colleagues who dedicate their time and talents to make the National Archives a great place to work. We recognize colleagues who went above and beyond expectations and succeeded in ways not intended.
Before we get started on this year’s awards, I would like to take a moment to remember our four colleagues who passed away this past year: Ronnie G. Owens, Cheryl A. Huston, Penny F. Morris, and Tennile L. Jackson. Let’s acknowledge their lasting contributions to the work of the National Archives.
Thank you.
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First, we would like to recognize with special pride those NARA employees who are currently serving or have served on active duty as members of the Armed Forces during the past year. They are Keori [key-or-ee] Johnson (Army) and John Manning (Air Force).
Please take a moment to show your appreciation for all of these service members.
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Congratulations to this year’s recipients. And I thank each of you who digitize, develop, reduce, move, store, process, respond, dispose, transfer, declassify, exhibit, and promote our records and support our staff in all that they do.
None of this would be possible without you. Thank you for your service today and every day.