David B. Gracy II

David B. Gracy II (born 25 October 1941 – 26 September 2020) was an American archivist and archival educator. He developed the Southern Labor Archives, was a founding member of the Society of Georgia Archivists, and authored the first American manual on arrangement and description for the Society of American Archivists. He was an early leader in archival education and professional certification for archivists and has advocated for archivists to promote societal understanding of archives and in particular the archival profession throughout his career. He also contributed significantly to the preservation and celebration of Texas history.

Early life David B. Gracy II was born on October 25, 1941, to David Caldwell and Alice Tillar (née Duggan) Gracy in Austin, Texas. Gracy's father was a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin who was a principal of the Gracy Title Company of Austin, while his mother was descended from the Littlefield family, the largest benefactor to the university during its early years. Littlefield House, built in 1893 for Gracy's ancestor George Washington Littlefield, a successful businessman in both banking and cattle trades, still stands on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.

Education Gracy attended the Sewanee Military Academy in Sewanee, Tennessee. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin receiving a Bachelor's degree in History in 1963. He followed that with a Master's degree in History from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966 and a Ph.D in History from Texas Tech University in 1971.

Career David Gracy began his career as Archivist for the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University from 1966 to 1971 before becoming Archivist of the Southern Labor Archives and University Archives at Georgia State University from 1971 to 1977. when he was asked to create the archival and records enterprise concentration at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information. The journal received an Award of Merit from the Society of American archivists in 1975. This was followed by a position on the editorial board from 1977 – 1978. as well as a Fellow of the Society of Georgia Archivists in 2009, and received the ACA Distinguished Service Award from the Academy of Certified Archivists in 2011. He was also named a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association in 1992. He was the first person awarded the recognition of distinguished alumnus, Department of History, Texas Tech University, in 1987. and the Academy of Certified Archivists (1999–2000). As President of the Society of American Archivists, he initiated the "Archives in Society" program, which focused on the value, relevance and significance of archives and archivists to all members of society. He created the Task Force on Archives and Society in 1983, which commissioned a social marketing study of the image of archives and archivists by resource allocators popularly known as the "Levy Report". A Festschrift in honour of David Gracy was published discussing his influence on archives and archivists, particularly in the United States. In the introduction the editor noted that Gracy's career "evinced innumerable critical contributions to advancing the archives field in the United States."

Principal publications Books

Articles