Luciana Spracher

Savannah

Luciana Spracher (Savannah) is Director of Municipal Archives in Savannah. Since becoming the City of Savannah government’s first full-time archivist in 2005, she has, since assuming the role of Director in 2012, transformed the city’s archives into a resource for education and civic pride. She has successfully advocated for more than $3 million in funding for preservation, digitization, and restoration projects while expanding public access to records and history. Of note is the historical preservation of Savannah’s City Hall, the first interior restoration in its history. Her other initiatives include the Savannah Community Memory Project, which has documented over 150 oral histories in more than 22 Savannah neighborhoods. Spracher has also established free City Hall tours and the long-running Hungry for History lecture series, a public lecture series featuring presentations by an array of relevant speakers. She is an editorial board member of the journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists, has contributed to the New Georgia Encyclopedia and has authored book-length works on historical topics. Through scholarship, collaboration, and leadership, Spracher has ensured that Savannah’s archives are a model of accessible community-centered history.

Q&A with the Honoree

Q: In what ways do communities benefit when they invest in the arts and humanities?

A: “Savannah, for example, is a rich and diverse community. Arts and humanities recognize, uplift, and celebrate this diversity while helping us to move forward with purpose in positive ways.”