Selena Aleman appointed Archivist for the Catholic Archives of Texas

AUSTIN – Selena Aleman has been appointed archivist for the Catholic Archives of Texas, Executive Director Jennifer Allmon announced today. She will begin her full-time position on June 1.

“Selena Aleman will bring the Catholic Archives of Texas into the era of digital archives, using her already extensive experience,” Allmon said. “We welcome her to the staff of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops and look forward to her leadership in keeping the Catholic Archives of Texas as a valuable resource for the public and the Church.”

The Catholic Archives of Texas, under the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, is nationally recognized as one of the most valuable resources for the history of the Catholic Church in the Southwest. Its records span nearly four centuries of development of the Catholic religion in the southwestern region of the United States and Northern Mexico.

The Archives was founded in 1923 under the auspices of the Texas Knights of Columbus Historical Commission. Their goal of publishing a history of Catholicism in Texas culminated in the seven-volume work “Our Catholic Heritage in Texas, 1519-1936,” authored by Carlos E. Castañeda of the University of Texas at Austin.

Aleman began working at the Catholic Archives of Texas in 2018 as a graduate student intern. She has been focusing on digitization projects, including digitizing the Knights of Columbus records.

Selena has worked on archives projects at the Austin History Center, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image. She received a bachelor’s in sociology and minor in women and gender studies from Texas A&M University in 2013 and a master of science in information studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018.

During May, the Archives will be open to the public on a limited schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9  a.m. to noon. For more information, please call the Catholic Archives of Texas at 512.476.6296.

The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops is the association of the Roman Catholic bishops of Texas. The TCCB represents 15 dioceses and 19 active bishops. Through the TCCB, the bishops provide a moral and social public policy voice, accredit the state’s Catholic schools, and maintain archives that reflect the work and the history of the Catholic Church in Texas.