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Memory Rising: February 2025

In this month’s edition:

- No Time For Fear: the New Deal History podcast - CLIR Climate Resiliency Action Series - Recent SAA Statements on Federal News - Upcoming Grant Deadlines - This Month’s Recommendations A few weeks ago I started reading Studs Terkel’s collection of oral histories about the Great Depression, *Hard Times*. I’m finding it to be a good companion for these times, to hear the voices of people who lived through hard times and came out on the other side gives us a beacon for seeing a possible path through our own current darkness.




The image above of shacks burning to the ground is from one of the most notorious events following the 1929 stock market crash. Veterans of the first World War, many of whom were unemployed, had been promised a deferred bonus payment for their wartime service. Due to the economic crisis, they wanted immediate payment, and  tens of thousands of them began marching towards Washington DC in summer of 1932 to demand their wartime service bonus. The “Bonus Army” set up encampments around Washington DC for weeks, and engaged in practice drills and other forms of protest. Eventually, President Herbert Hoover called out the military who attacked the Bonus Army veterans and set fire to their encampments.




As you can imagine, Americans were horrified. Men who had sacrificed so much on behalf of their country, who were the first survivors of modern warfare, now had the weapons of their country turned on them. The treatment of the Bonus Army was a political disaster, and it added to the turning tide of backlash against President Hoover, and contributed to FDR’s landslide election a few months later.




Recently I had a conversation with a dear friend who works in another field. While we have different professions, we face many similar professional challenges. We were discussing the chaos, dysfunction, and cruelty of the current administration and she asked a rhetorical question that has been haunting me ever since, which is *“What does leadership look like right now?” *




It’s a question I’m still chewing on, but I think it also goes hand in hand with another question that came up in our conversation, which is *“How do we get through this?”* That question feels much easier to answer, which is: with each other. I’ve [spoken before](https://us21.campaign-archive.com/?u=33964c505212f62c031cc170e&id=5b8b6daf06) about how mutual reciprocity and being there for each other is how we get through anything hard, and I feel this way more than ever.




In my corner of archives-land, I’ve been horrified by what’s happening at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and I have not been shy about [sharing my views publicly](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eira-tansey-78592713_the-hostile-takeover-that-appeared-imminent-activity-7297726573980327936-Kh12?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAALOcZUB_t8jzeElLlNivO2DZqc5DD1Uiug) and behind the scenes through [my work on SAA Council](https://www2.archivists.org/groups/saa-council/roster). Whether you are an archivist who works in the public or the private sector, an attack on the nation's largest employer of archivists is an attack on our entire profession. As the old union adage goes: An injury to one is an injury to all.




I’ve been struck by how many federal workers on the [r/FedNews](https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/) subreddit mention their sense of isolation and loneliness from their larger communities, that they feel like many people in their lives don’t just understand the gravity of the current attacks on collective competent governance, but that those around them don’t even demonstrate any interest in their fate as individual neighbors, friends, and family members.




It is very telling to me how deeply broken our society has become when people feel they cannot turn to their friends and colleagues for respectful dialogue and a listening ear. So to me, this is what leadership looks like, right now. It means not being afraid to tell the truth, but even more importantly, not being afraid to listen.




As a [fellow Cincinnatian](https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18MmCacKW8/) often said - until next time, take care of yourselves, and each other. -Eira




(Photograph of Shacks, put up by the Bonus Army on the Anacostia flats, Washington, DC, burning after the battle with the military. Image via [National Archives](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/531102?objectPage=3). Newsletter content assistance provided by [Jess Farrell](https://facilitator-jess.github.io/RedstartWorks/about/).) # No Time For Fear: the New Deal History podcast I’m delighted to announce a project that’s been a long time in the making: my new podcast, No Time For Fear! Each episode, I tell stories about the New Deal based on a unifying theme. The first season is called POWER, and focuses on the New Deal’s rural electrification projects.




Why this, why now?
1. The New Deal and the legacy of the New Deal is all around us. 2. There are spicy debates about the legacy of the New Deal. It’s useful to look at what happened, for better or worse, and what archival records say about the successes and barriers. 3. The New Deal shows us what is possible.




And right now, we need reminders of what is possible.




Check out the [intro episode](https://notimeforfear.net/episode-notes-the-new-deal-shows-us-what-is-possible/) to hear more about  my motivations for this project. I recorded the intro on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 5th and I had no idea where we would be by the time the podcast was released. But now that we’re here, I share this creative work as a hopeful blueprint.




Please [listen](https://notimeforfear.net/listen/) directly from the podcast’s website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS feed. And check out ways to [support](https://notimeforfear.net/support/) the podcast! # CLIR Climate Resiliency Action Series On March 13, 2025, I’m speaking at the “Place-Based Planning” session of the CLIR Climate Resiliency Action series, a new community of practice around issues of climate change in libraries and cultural heritage institutions. The free series includes six sessions with opportunities to discuss in community with other attendees after each session. [Visit the website](https://climate-resiliency.clir.org/) to learn more or sign up. # Recent SAA Statements on Federal News SAA Council has been actively discussing the many disruptions within the federal landscape and monitoring the situation while determining how we can best support impacted workers. In the last two weeks, SAA's leadership has issued two statements, including one about the [removal of the Archivist of the United States](https://www2.archivists.org/news/2025/saa-response-to-aotus-removal-urges-advocacy), and another about the [firings of rank and file federal workers](https://www2.archivists.org/news/2025/saa-condemns-widespread-firing-of-archivists-and-cultural-heritage-workers).




In the course of my work as an [SAA Councilor](https://www2.archivists.org/groups/saa-council/roster), I find it incredibly helpful to receive information about both direct and indirect impacts of federal actions on archivists’ workplaces and livelihoods. To the extent you are able to do so, please feel free to share this information with me. If you need a more private means of communication, I can be contacted [on Signal](https://signal.me/#eu/S_04653KsmeZjfYxyz-VhR2RKKzBmxysqBPtUl8FKYkN-WL0VnpBZrLTvRfyod7Z) (user name: etans.10)  # Upcoming Grant Deadlines Thinking about applying for an archives grant? I am here to support your planning, assessment, strategy, and research needs. Check out these upcoming opportunities and reach out if you’d like to work with me!




## NHPRC The final deadline for these funding opportunities is May 7. Note that NHPRC has recently cancelled the application rounds for the Archival Projects and Archival Collaboratives grants, citing [“budget uncertainty.”](https://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement) - The [Publishing Historical Records in Collaborative Digital Editions](https://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/editions.html) funds publish documentary editions of historical records. - The [State Board Programming Grants](https://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/state.html) for projects that strengthen the nation’s archival network through activities undertaken by state historical records advisory boards. Letter of inquiry deadline is March 7. Note: I am especially interested in working with any interested SHRABs on developing traveling archivist programs.




## SAA
- [The SAA Foundation Opportunity Grant program](https://www2.archivists.org/groups/saa-foundation-board-of-directors/saa-foundation-opportunity-grant-application-guidelines) provides timely funding to archival repositories to seize unexpected, time-sensitive opportunities. Applications received on a rolling basis. Applications received by 5:00 PM Central Time on the 24th of the month will be reviewed in the first week of the following month. - The SAA Foundation's[ National Disaster Recovery Fund for Archives (NDRFA)](https://www2.archivists.org/groups/saa-foundation-board-of-directors/national-disaster-recovery-fund-for-archives) provides critical assistance to communities experiencing climate disasters. Applications received on a rolling basis. Grants are typically awarded within 7-10 business days of applying. # This Month’s Recommendations 🧪 [New Deal Periodic Table](https://www.fdrlibrary.org/New-Deal-Periodic-Table) - I wish someone had sent this to me a year ago when I started working on my New Deal podcast. The FDR Library’s "New Deal Periodic Table" is a great visualization tool to help you keep track of all the New Deal personalities and their agencies.




🗣️ [Moving on from 18F](https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/leaving-18f/) - I’ve really appreciated Ethan Marcotte’s voice on the [Mastodon fediverse](https://glammr.us/@[email protected]) in recent years, and this is an account of his departure from 18F (a digital agency within the federal government) amidst the many rapid changes happening in the federal government. I am grateful for the brave federal workers who are speaking out about what is happening to them, because the way federal employees are being treated will have generations-long ramifications for the functioning of whatever remains of our democracy.




📦* *[*American Bulk: Essays on Excess*](https://bookshop.org/p/books/american-bulk-essays-on-excess-emily-mester/21077069?ean=9781324035237&next=t&affiliate=56144)* - *I learned about this book from an [interview](https://annehelen.substack.com/p/american-bulk?r=sx43&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true) with author Emily Mester. I’m still working out how I feel about it, but sometimes the more complicated feelings I have about a book indicates the more deeply it has stirred up something in me. Mester totally nailed what Midwest consumerism looks like in a way I’ve never seen anyone else do so well because class and taste in the Midwest has a subtle range (for example, I consider eating a solo meal at the Cheesecake Factory bar to be among the heights of human bliss but eating on the restaurant side of the same chain is down in the pits of human misery. If you’ve done both, you know what I mean).

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