The UWM Libraries are excited to announce that Derek Webb has joined the staff as the head of Archives.
In his new role, Webb is responsible for providing leadership and vision for a wide array of programs, including the university’s archives and records management, a local history collection, and the Milwaukee Area Research Center, which is a branch of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to support the tremendously accomplished and knowledgeable staff of the Archives Department in their critical work of documenting the history and people of UWM and of the city of Milwaukee,” Webb says. “This archives and the library of which it is a part really is a model institution in its rich physical and digital collections, its deep relationships in the university and throughout the city, and the wide array and high quality of services it offers. I believe the Archives has a bright future and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Webb’s previous position was Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist at Mississippi University for Women. Before that he was a Senior Library Specialist at the University of Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute.
He earned his MLS from Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis, an MA in early Christian studies from Notre Dame, and a BA in history from Texas Tech University.
His recent publications and presentations include “The Virtuous Circle of Student Research: Harnessing a Multicourse Collaborative Research Project to Enhance Archival Collections,” American Archivist 82:1 (Spring/Summer 2019); The Price We Paid: An Anthology of the Desegregation of Mississippi State College for Women (ed.) (Mississippi University for Women Publication, 2016); and “Indexing the Closet: Access vs. Privacy in LGBT Oral History Collections,” paper presented at Society of Mississippi Archivists Annual Conference, April 26, 2019.
Webb began at UWM on February 10.
The UWM Archives Department documents the history of UWM and provides access to primary sources, largely from the metropolitan Milwaukee area, that have long-term research and instructional value, with an emphasis on topics of social justice and underrepresented populations.
Its collections are a treasure trove for research across many disciplines. Examples of outstanding and unique collections and collecting areas include immigration, the civil rights movement, Milwaukee’s brewing history, LGBT history and culture, the news film archives of WTMJ-TV, and audio recordings from the Wisconsin Native American Languages Project.