Archie Motley Memorial Scholarship for Students of Color

Purpose

To provide financial assistance to minority students pursuing graduate education in archival administration and to encourage ethnic diversification of the Midwest Archives Conference and of the archival profession as a whole.

Award (2 awarded annually)

Scholarship of $1,500 and complimentary 1-year membership to MAC

Eligibility

There are eligibility requirements for both the applicant and the graduate archival program which must be met for consideration for this scholarship.

Applicant

To be eligible for a scholarship, the applicant must be of African, Arabic, Asian, Indigenous, Pacific Islander, or Latinx descent; must be a student currently enrolled in or accepted in a graduate, multicourse program in archival administration; and must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in their academic program. If the program is not listed in the SAA Directory of Archival Education, http://www2.archivists.org/dae, the applicant must provide proof of the multicourse standard by submitting copies of course descriptions from the institution’s current departmental catalog.

Program

If the program is not listed in the SAA Directory of Archival Education, the applicant must provide proof of the multi-course standard by submitting copies of course descriptions from the institution’s current departmental catalog.

Application

Applications are due March 1, 2025 and must include the following documents:

• Completed Application Form (pdf)
• Current resume that includes education, work history, involvement in campus or community organizations, membership in professional organizations, and any honors or awards received
• Transcript from the applicant's most recent academic program (unofficial transcript is acceptable)
• Essay of not more than 500 words outlining the applicant's interests and future goals in archival administration
• One letter of recommendation (may be submitted separately by recommender)

Please send all materials (application form, transcript, and essay) as one single file. Completed applications should be sent to:

Megan Keller Young, Chair
Senior Instructor and Special Collections Librarian
University of Illinois Chicago
Email: [email protected]u

Awards will be announced no later than June 3, 2025.

Award Requirement

Award winner will write an essay for the MAC Newsletter on their academic activities assisted by the scholarship and its importance to their graduate archival education.

Archie Motley (1934–2002)

Archie Motley was born on December 2, 1934, in Chicago. Son of prominent African American painter Archibald Motley Jr. and Edith Granzo, Motley graduated from Englewood High School and later earned a BA in philosophy from DePaul University in 1960 and an MA in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago in 1965. He began working at the Chicago History Museum in 1955 where he ultimately advanced to the position of curator of archives and manuscripts in 1974. He spearheaded active collection development of Chicago’s urban, social, and cultural history—especially collections related to labor, African Americans, and community organizations—but also many other types of material related to Chicago’s complex and tumultuous history. In 1998, he was named Chicago History Museum’s archivist emeritus.

Motley was also a leader among archivists. He was a founding member and the first president of the Midwest Archives Conference. He was also active with the Society of American Archivists, the Society of American Baseball Research, and the Urban History Association. He provided longtime service to the Illinois State Archives and the Illinois Labor History Society, to name only two of many.

Motley’s life and legacy cannot be easily calculated. His impact on the archival profession and on the history of un- and under-documented communities is impossible to quantify. Still, his imprint can be found on the stacks of research conducted under his ever keen and watchful eye. Researchers and donors counted him as friend and ally, archivists as mentor and role model. As such we can celebrate his contributions and continue his good work long into the future.

Previous Winners