In Conversation: David S. Ferriero & Dan Lipcan

Tenth Archivist of the United States of America, David S. Ferriero, joins Dan Lipcan, the Ann C. Pingree Director of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum, for a conversation about the role and responsibilities of archives and what they have learned from past practices.

Tickets required.

Doors will open at 5:30 pm. The program will begin at 6 pm, with a brief Q&A following the conversation.

David S. Ferriero served as the 10th Archivist of the United States, from November 13, 2009, to April 30, 2022.

On July 28, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated David S. Ferriero to be Archivist of the United. States. The U.S. Senate confirmed Mr. Ferriero on November 6, 2009, and he was sworn in as the 10th Archivist of the United States on November 13, 2009.

During Mr. Ferriero’s tenure, to further openness and access, the agency embraced a number of social media tools—Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, Tumblr, and others—to reach a wider and broader audience. Mr. Ferriero also created a crowd-sourcing initiative called “citizen archivists,” to get the public more involved with identifying, describing, and sharing federal records, and in 2013 opened the agency’s Innovation Hub.

As Archivist, Mr. Ferriero oversaw the addition of three new Presidential Libraries to the NARA Presidential Library system. The George W. Bush Presidential Library, the Barack Obama Presidential Library, and the Donald J. Trump Presidential Libraries became the 13th, 14th, and 15th libraries, respectively.

During Mr. Ferriero’s time, the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO, moved into a newly constructed building, and the National Archives at New York and the National Archives at Denver moved to new locations. In Washington, DC, the National Archives Museum opened a new visitor orientation plaza, and the new David M. Rubenstein Gallery opened in December 2013, featuring a new permanent exhibit, Records of Rights.

In his last two years as Archivist of the United States, Mr. Ferriero led the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing an unprecedented move to remote work. He retired as Archivist on April 30, 2022.

Before coming to the National Archives, Mr. Ferriero served as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries (NYPL). He was part of the leadership team responsible for integrating the four research libraries and 87 branch libraries into one seamless service for users, creating the largest public library system in the United States and one of the largest research libraries in the world. Mr. Ferriero was in charge of collection strategy, conservation, digital experience, reference and research services, and education, programming, and exhibitions.

Dan Lipcan is the Ann C. Pingree Director of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum. He oversees a talented staff charged with stewarding and sharing the library’s extensive collection of books, archives, ships’ journals, broadsides, and ephemera. He joined the PEM in 2019 after a 16-year tenure at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Thomas J. Watson Library. Outside of the library he pursues candlepin bowling, paddleboarding, record collecting, and jaywalking!