Overview | History
of CoSA | Mission and Strategic Plan
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of Directors
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CoSA
Overview
The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) is a national
organization comprising the individuals who serve as directors of the
principal archival agencies in each state and territorial government.
Under regulations of the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission, these individuals also serve as the State Historical Records
Coordinators who chair their respective State Historical Records Advisory
Boards (SHRABs).
Working collectively through their membership in CoSA,
the State Archivists encourage cooperation among the states and SHRABs
on matters of mutual interest, define and communicate archival and records
concerns at a national level, and work with the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), National
Archives (NARA), and other national organizations to ensure that
the nation's documentary heritage is preserved and accessible.
"Introducing the Council of State Archivists" provides a summary of CoSA's highest priority projects and recent activities. [PDF, 87KB]
History of CoSA
In 1975, the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) enacted regulations
(36 CFR 1206) requiring each state, territory, and the District of Columbia
to establish a State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) in order
to fully participate in the NHPRC grant program. Members of the SHRABs
are intended to represent the full range of repository types and historical
records advocates in each state: state and local governments, universities
and colleges (public and private), community-based organizations (historical
societies, public libraries, historic sites, museums), genealogists,
and professional historians. In turn the SHRABs provide advice and services
to an equally broad range of constituents.
Each SHRAB is chaired by the official responsible
for the archives of the state or territory (usually the state or territorial
archivist), who is designated by the NHPRC regulations to serve as State
Coordinator. Individual State Coordinators serve in this capacity without
remuneration from the Commission for the benefit of historical records
programs within their states. Likewise SHRABs are also composed of volunteer
members who serve with out compensation.
Through the 1980s, the State Coordinators as
a group were loosely connected through a steering committee that worked
with NHPRC staff and helped conduct occasional meetings. In 1989 they
formally organized as the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators
(COSHRC) prompted, in part, by a desire to have a voice in determining
NHPRC’s funding priorities. The State Coordinators developed their
first Mission Statement in 1989 which emphasized COSHRC’s strong
connection to NHPRC.
COSHRC began holding regular annual and midyear
meetings in the early 1990s and undertook a succession of needs assessments
and other projects during the ensuing decade. Most of COSHRC’s
meetings and project work, to date, has been funded by grants from NHPRC.
The data gathered and evaluated during these projects has served the
ends of both NHPRC and COSHRC. NHPRC needed the data to respond to its
own stated mission to report periodically on the “state of the
American record.” The findings also helped the State Coordinators
identify the many concerns that cross state lines and recognize that
solutions developed in one state could be fruitfully adopted and applied
in many others.
At their 2001 annual meeting, COSHRC members
voted to incorporate as a nonprofit organization. COSHRC was incorporated
in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in May 2002 and received a letter
of determination from the IRS confirming COSHRC's status as a 501(c)(3)
organization in March 2003.
COSHRC members adopted a new Mission
Statement and Strategic Plan in July 2003 emphasizing the organization's
interest in advocacy and collaboration. It was updated in February 2004 and again in July 2007.
In July 2005, the members voted to change
the name of the organization to the Council
of State Archivists (CoSA). The new, more descriptive name will
help the Council with its increasingly visible work in outreach and
advocacy.
