archives

• 
• 1/9/2022
  

  A Walk Around the "Wood that Built London"

  by C.J. Schüler

  The remnants of the North Wood outside London posed a mystery of cartographical history to the author: how to reconstruct the forest that was timbered to build the metropolis.

• 
• 12/19/2021
  

  The Theodore Roosevelt Oral History Collection Proves There's More to Learn about TR

  by Michael Patrick Cullinane

  Seven audio recordings from the 1950s, found at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, opened a window into the memories of TR's relatives and contemporaries of his political and social world, showing there's always more to discover about even the most famed figures of history. 

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• SOURCE: Brazilian Historians in the United States (BRAHUS)
  11/29/2021
  

  US-Based Brazilian Historians Write Open Letter Protesting Bolsonaro's National Archivist Appointment

  Historians charge that the appointment is part of Bolsonaro's campaign to whitewash the image of Brazil's period of military dictatorship and justify his own authoritarian ambitions.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/25/2021
  

  Climate Change Threatens Smithsonian

  “We’re kind of in trial and error,” said Ryan Doyle, a facilities manager at the Smithsonian. “It’s about managing water.”

• 
• SOURCE: The Guardian
  11/01/2021
  

  Records of 320,000 Punjab Soldiers from Great War Uncovered`

  The records have the potential to fill gaps in understanding and even dispel popular myths and misunderstandings about the participation of South Asian troops in the British military in World War 1. 

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• SOURCE: KUT
  10/28/2021
  

  Structural Racism Hinders Efforts to Preserve History of Texas "Freedom Colonies"

  Dr. Andrea Roberts of the Texas Freedom Colonies Project says that the history of Black settlements during Reconstruction and Jim Crow is hindered by rules about what sites qualify as "historic."  

• 
• 10/10/2021
  

  Recovering Women's Reproductive Lives, One Mutilated Record at a Time

  by Catherine Prendergast

  "Far too often, archives resemble graveyards with marked tombs for men in which a few bones of women are scattered. It’s time to dig up all of the bones and ask them what story they tell."

• 
• SOURCE: Atlas Obscura
  9/22/2021
  

  The Curious Task of Preserving Darwin's Beans and Butterflies

  Although his voyage to the Galapagos is famous, much of Darwin's work on natural selection was based on correspondence with horticulturalists and naturalists who sent him samples from around the world. Cambridge University's libraries are at work to preserve that correspondence.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/9/2021
  

  Reconstructing an Urban Archive Lost on 9/11

  The archives of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which held important information about the history of the region's politics and infrastructure, was housed in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Agency retirees have sent documents, pictures and artifacts to start rebuilidng the record.

• 
• SOURCE: UChicago News
  5/25/2021
  

  The Hidden History Of “Guerrilla Television”: UChicago Scholars Preserve Decades-Old Videos

  Technological innovation in the 1960s allowed more people to shoot video and push for community-based television. University of Chicago scholars are working to digitize and preserve "guerrilla television." 

• 
• SOURCE: The Guardian
  5/22/2021
  

  Why Has Australia’s History Been Left To Rot?

  Historians are criticizing the Australian government's decision not to supply the funding the National Archives needs to digitize and preserve fragile and deteriorating documents, calling the "digital cliff" a potential national embarrassment. 

• 
• SOURCE: Contingent
  5/1/2021
  

  How Amalia Levi Does History

  Amalia Levi's work as a freelance archivist with cultural organizations in several countries shows that much greater resources are needed to make a wealth of historical documentation accessible, and many talented workers could put those resources to work. 

• 
• SOURCE: Black Perspectives
  3/31/2021
  

  Working with Histories that Haunt Us

  by Marius Kothor

  The author responds to a recent essay on the traumatic aspects of archival research. As a political exile from Togo, her identity and experience converged with subject matter she couldn't study at a remove. 

• 
• SOURCE: Mother Jones
  3/30/2021
  

  One Man’s Quest to Crack the Modern Anti-Immigration Movement—by Unsealing Its Architect’s Papers

  John Tanton donated 25 boxes of documents related to his work with anti-immigration advocacy organizations beginning in the 1960s. The gift stipulated that much of the collection be sealed until 2035. An immigration advocate says that Tanton's connections to right-wing anti-immigrant groups and the pro-eugenics Pioneer Fund means the university should unseal the papers now. 

• 
• SOURCE: Asian American Writers' Workshop
  3/25/2021
  

  Exploring Black and Asian American Lesbian Archives: Aché and Phoenix Rising

  Two newsletters by and for queer communities of color in the Bay Area are a primary source for understanding how Black and Asian American lesbians created and maintained community. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  3/15/2021
  

  The Race to Collect COVID Ephemera Before It’s History

  "Last year, on March 13th, as Americans began to restructure daily life in response to covid-19, one curator, Rebecca Klassen, had an idea."

• 
• SOURCE: Columbia Post and Courier
  2/16/2021
  

  Veteran Journalist Donates Trove of Civil Rights-Era Research to University of South Carolina

  “I think that’s what I find amazing. Even in terms of the curriculum in the state of South Carolina, that those kind of moments are not necessarily common knowledge, where you have an Orangeburg Massacre,” Crump said. “No pun intended, it’s almost like an educational blackout.”

• 
• SOURCE: National Security Archive
  2/12/2021
  

  Lawsuit Saves Trump White House Records

  The lawsuit also required the preservation of WhatsApp messages from figures including Jared Kushner. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/16/2021
  

  Police Unions Lose Bid to Keep Disciplinary Records a Secret

  The records would include records of civilian complaints, internal investigations of misconduct, and interdepartmental claims of harassment by superior officers. 

• 
• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  1/28/2021
  

  UCLA Wins $3.65-Million Grant to Build ‘Age of Mass Incarceration’ Archive with LAPD Records

  In addition to 177 boxes of LAPD records, which the university fought for and won access to in court, the project will seek out and include oral histories and other ephemera from community members who were affected by the region’s aggressive criminal justice pipelines, said professor Kelly Lytle Hernández.