Historical Committee Meets at National Office to Continue the Large Task of Cataloguing NATCA’s History

The charge of the National Historical Committee (NHC), which met last week at the National Office in Washington, D.C., is to catalogue, document, and archive the history of NATCA. “In order to understand what has been collected over the years, there needs to be a system in place to do this and I believe we made great strides in this endeavor,” said NHC Chair Ryan Herrick (Minneapolis TRACON, M98). “History can give the knowledge and perspective of where NATCA came from and can guide its actions in the future.”

Along with cataloguing, the committee began preparations for the 2023 Biennial Convention (June 20-22, 2023, Hollywood, Fla.) and how NATCA’s history can be put on display for members to view.

“One of the highlights for myself was to watch our small group dive into historical NATCA newsletters and just get enthralled with the articles, with lots of ‘holy cows’ and ‘that’s so interesting,’” Herrick said. “It really puts into perspective what NATCA has accomplished in its nearly 35-year existence. The NHC hopes, in the near future, to have the newsletters digitized so access can be easier for all members.”

PHOTO BELOW: NHC members pictured, from left to right: Vice Chair Steve Weidner (retired, Washington Center, ZDC), Samantha Navarro (Seattle ATCT, SEA), Herrick, Kristena Jones (ZDC), Aaron Wilt (ZDC), Kelly Smith (Minneapolis Center, ZMP), and Elaine Poe (retired, Fort Worth Center, ZFW). Not pictured are committee members Della Swartz (retired, Engineers Alaskan Region), and Curt Howe (Engineers Northwest Mountain).