First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Remarks on First Woman Archivist of the United States

Ceremony ushers in Dr. Colleen Shogan, 11th Archivist of the United States

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, with the backdrop of the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, swore in the first woman Archivist of the United States on Monday.

Dr. Colleen Shogan, the 11th Archivist of the United States was nominated by President Joe Biden on Aug. 3, 2022, and she began her tenure the following week. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. presided over the ceremony earlier this week that was held in the National Archives Museum’s Rotunda in Washington, DC. Shogan succeeded David S. Ferriero, who retired in April 2022, according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

In her remarks, Biden spotlighted the importance of preserving the history of democracy for future generations. America’s founding documents date back to the Constitutional Convention where the creation of the United States Constitution took place. “Our leaders recognized the power of our founding documents and the importance of keeping them safe and accessible,” Biden says.

Prior to her appointment, Shogan, a native of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, served as senior vice president and director of the David M. Rubenstein Center at the White House Historical Association. She has previously worked in the United States Senate and as a senior executive at the Library of Congress. Shogan also served as the vice chair of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission and the chair of the board of directors at the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation. 

Biden, in her remarks, stressed the importance of documenting history. “These stories are all of our stories – men and women, of all backgrounds, ages, and creeds, what we choose to preserve, and whose voices we deem worthy of placing in our national memory,” Biden says. “That’s why this milestone – the first woman head of the National Archives and Records Administration – is so momentous.”