Date: Friday, October 17th, 2025

What is Past is Prologue: The Future of Memory

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (A.R.T.) invites proposals for our 2025 New York Archives Week Symposium. 

As memory institutions begin preparations to commemorate the nation's semiquincentennial 2026, this creates a moment for archives professionals to pause and survey the history of our field, its evolution, and how we will choose to proceed into the future.

This is especially critical as we convene against the backdrop of recent events – including federal decisions to dismiss the National Archivist and the proposed elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. These actions threaten funding, limit programming, and impede access to information. Memory institutions face unprecedented challenges, and the archival field must adapt and innovate to ensure its vitality. It is our collective responsibility, as stewards of memory, to unite and champion our vital work.

Inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest and inscribed on the “Future” statue at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., this year's theme, "What is Past is Prologue: The Future of Memory," seeks to highlight the crucial role archivists play in ensuring the preservation and endurance of memory.

We encourage submissions that showcase:

• New Discoveries: Unearthing or interpreting previously unknown or under-utilized archival materials.
• Programming and Outreach: Innovative and impactful initiatives that connect with diverse audiences, nontraditional outreach methods that encourage new publics to engage with archives, or programs that advocate for the value of archival institutions and the communities whose memories we steward.
• Coalitions and Collaborations: Meaningful partnerships within or beyond institutional boundaries.
• Processing and Reference: Innovative methods that help to ensure the discoverability and durable accessibility of archival materials, particularly during a time of information uncertainty.
• Emerging Technologies: Methods that harness digital tools to ensure the archives field is relevant to our users and is capable of meeting the needs of archives professionals.

As the environment around memory institutions continues to evolve, almost daily, this symposium offers a critical opportunity to collectively reflect on and reimagine the future of our field. We invite New York archives professionals to come together to explore how the lessons of the past can inform and empower our path forward as we steward the memories contained in archival institutions.

We eagerly await your proposals and look forward to a dynamic and thought-provoking symposium.

Proposal Submission Deadline

Deadline for proposals is the end of the day on August 15, 2025. The symposium is scheduled to be held on Friday, October 17th, 2025. Please submit your proposals through this Google Form.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact education@nycarchivists.org.