Dodd Center honored by national archivists society

The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center has received the 2008 Distinguished Service Award of the Society of American Archivists.

Director Thomas Wilsted accepted the award on behalf of the center, during the society’s annual meeting in San Francisco Aug. 29.

Established in 1995, the Dodd Center has become “a center of campus intellectual life by linking collection development and preservation to public programming and the academic curriculum in a vital and exciting way,” the award selection committee said.

The center, named for the late Connecticut Sen. Thomas J. Dodd, houses the University’s archives, and focuses on building research collections that document the U.S. Congress, human rights, and public policy.

It provided assistance to the African National Congress, South Africa’s leading anti-apartheid organization and now its ruling political party, by helping collect and preserve records documenting its activities during the apartheid era.

The center contains Sen. Thomas Dodd’s papers, including his service as chief trial counsel at the Nuremberg Trials, and holds the Alternative Press Collection, and the papers of naturalist Edwin Way Teale and children’s author Tomie dePaola.

It is also known for its collection of Connecticut business history, and the creation and development of Connecticut History Online.

The Dodd Center is a founding member of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress, an independent alliance of institutions that promotes programs and research opportunities related to the U.S. Congress.

The Society of American Archivists is North America’s oldest and largest national archival professional association.