2026 Northwest Archivists Annual Meeting --Tacoma, Washington

June 24-26, 2026

Grit and Memory: Preserving the Stories That Built Our Communities

Whether from indifference or irreverence, holding in equal regard all the triumph and tragedy of our past, for better or for worse, Tacoma—Grit City prevails.

The 2026 NWA Annual Meeting gives us an opportunity to gather, collaborate, and learn from the work of archivists from across our membership. Our 2026 meeting will be held in Tacoma, Washington, also known as Grit City. The theme for 2026 is Grit and Memory: Preserving the Stories That Built Our Communities. Grit is the ability to overcome obstacles and challenges in our work: burnout, understaffing, budget cuts, backlogs, growing large workloads with shrinking resources, and many other challenges. How does grit help us to overcome these challenges and preserve the stories of our communities? At the same time, others have critiqued the concept of grit, so we ask, what does it mean to critique the concept of grit in the archival profession? Do we always have to be so gritty and make do with what we have? Or, can we find creative ways to identify and remove obstacles that should not be there for ourselves, our colleagues, our profession and our users? 

The Program Committee seeks diverse perspectives that help us strengthen our professional practice, our institutions, and our communities. Through this call for proposals, the committee aims to connect Grit and Memory with thoughtful discussion through a variety of viewpoints, experiences, and expertise. 

We welcome proposals on all topics related to all aspects of archival practice, theory or research that is broadly related to the theme. Any and all ideas are welcome! We especially invite those in allied professions as well as graduate and undergraduate students to participate.

All proposals will be reviewed by NWA's Program Committee for acceptance. 

Session Formats

In your proposal you will be asked to indicate the format of your session. Except for workshops, all session blocks will be 60 minutes. You may submit a shorter presentation under the appropriate format type.

If you would like to work with others on a session, please coordinate using this Panel Collaboration Spreadsheet. (Note: the Program Committee does not monitor this spreadsheet, and coordination is up to individual members. Alternatively, you can submit a Case Study proposal as an individual).

• Standard Presentation, 1 hour: Two to four speakers present on a common theme. May include a moderator to steer discussion and/or introduce speakers and theme.

• Round Table Discussion, 1 hour: Three or four participants make very brief remarks, then discuss a topic together. Alternately, a moderator poses a series of questions to participants, which each participant addresses.

• Workshop, full- or half-day: hands-on presentation of skills, technology, or policy. Can be presented by an individual, a group, or an organization.

• Case Studies, 10-15 minutes: submitted individually: three to five speakers present on topics focused on recent projects, to be grouped by the Program Committee. Case-study presentations are shorter than the standard presentation and are designed to serve as examples of archival theory in practice.

• Alternative Format, 1 hour: Propose a format that best fits your topic. In your session description, provide enough information for the evaluators to understand both the format, and how the format will support the topic or presentation of the material.

• Poster Presentation: Posters can be used to convey a variety of outcomes and ideas related to practice, theory, or research. Examples include - but are not limited to - summarizing an internship project, highlighting a workflow, demonstrating the use of a tool or technology, conveying an outreach or advocacy strategy, getting feedback about projects in progress, or sharing research findings.

Session Proposal Evaluation Criteria

• Is the proposal description clear? (5 points)

• Are the proposal outcomes explicitly stated and achievable in the proposed session? (10 points)

• Will attendees be introduced to a new practice, practical application and/or be encouraged to think in a new way about an issue or topic? (10 points)

• Does the proposal demonstrate that the presenter(s) have the requisite knowledge /experience to present on the topic? (10 points)

Deadlines

Session proposals for the NWA 2026 Annual Meeting are due on Friday, March 6th, by 11:59pm Pacific Time. Acceptances will be communicated to presenters in March 2026.

If you have any questions, please contact Program Committee:

Program Committee

Nikki Koehlert, Co-chair

Tabitha Masters, Co-chair

Olivia Inglin, Local Arrangements

Ben Murphy

Heather Mulliner

Mariecris Gatlabayan

Erik Bauer

Sabrina She