Arkansas: State Archives Director Straps in for the Long Haul

From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

Wendy Richter has two pieces of hard-earned wisdom after her first year as the state historian and director of the Arkansas State Archives: wear seat belts and get regular mammograms.

Last month, Richter was at the end of Interstate 630 when her car was broadsided by another vehicle and rolled over 3½ times. She was trapped in her car, suspended upside down when emergency crews arrived to cut her out of the crushed vehicle.

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Almost a year before the car accident — which left her battered and bruised, but not badly injured — Richter was diagnosed after a routine mammogram with one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.

“It’s the kind that’s called ‘triple negative,’ which means it’s very difficult to treat,” Richter said.

After 14 chemotherapy treatments, Richter is in the last phases of a radiation regimen of about 35 daily treatments.

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“Our Arkansas State Archives has blossomed under the leadership of Dr. Wendy Richter,” [Stacy] Hurst [Secretary, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism] said. “Wendy’s volunteer programs have let people experience history firsthand. She also has expanded our collections and increased online access to historical documents.”

One of Richter’s first projects after coming on board was recruiting a volunteer troupe that gathers every Tuesday at the department’s storage building next to the Arkansas Department of Heritage. The volunteers dig through boxes of records and extract names to be indexed and reproduced digitally into the archive’s database. The database is searchable for free online.

Read the Complete Article (approx. 1300 words)

See Also: Arkansas State Archives Website

• Arkansas Digital Ark-ives

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Management and Leadership, News