Corrigan Solari University Historian and Archivist, University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives
Jennifer O'Neal, member of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon (USA), is the Corrigan Solari University Historian and Archivist at the University of Oregon Libraries Special Collections and University Archives, where she manages the University Archives collections, oversees the department’s instruction program, and serves as an advisor on tribal community projects. She earned a Masters in Library Science from the University of Arizona Knowledge River program, and a Masters in History from Utah State University. She is currently working toward completion of her Ph.D. in History at Georgetown University, where she is researching the internationalization of the American Indian movement and the later development of tribal community archives during the restoration years as a means for social justice.
Her research is dedicated to the intersections between social, cultural, and historical contexts in which archives exist for marginalized or underrepresented communities. She has specifically focused on social justice regarding cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and intellectual property rights affecting indigenous archives and the collaborations between tribal and non-tribal repositories. In 2006 she participated in drafting the best practices for the respectful care and use of Native American archival materials, which produced the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials. She is currently spearheading a project to reconvene the original drafters of the Protocols to update and reassess the guidelines to include case studies and information regarding the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She is also involved with various tribal community archive projects spearheaded by the University of Oregon Libraries, including tribally curated archive collections. Furthermore, she is dedicated to ensuring these issues are examined in archival theory and constructs, thus altering the ways in which the pedagogy contributes to cultural relevance and sensitivity.
Previously, from 2008-2012, she served as the Head Archivist for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. She has also held prior positions at the U.S. Department of State, Princeton University, University of Arizona, and Utah State University. She currently serves as the chair of the Society of American Archivists Native American Archives Roundtable, co-chair of the SAA Cultural Heritage Working Group, and member of the Advisory Council for the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums.
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Photo by Michael Mcdermott Courtesy UO
