Black Treasure Rediscovered: Brief Vignettes of Archival Practices in Preserving and Displaying Black Culture

Session Submission Type: Panel Session

Abstract

This session presents recent scholarship on the status and use of university archives in documenting the Black campus experience. Since their founding, university archives have become home to an influx of collections, not only university collections, but collections related to Black life in the cities where the archives are located. However, the availability of these collections to the public as well as the accessioning process varies from archive to archive. Additionally, this panel reviews the state of university archival collections once universities close. The papers in this session examine the impact of university archives and looks ahead to present and future challenges to document, preserve, and interpret archival materials.

Sub Unit

• 101st Annual Meeting and Conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History

Chair

• Dexter Gabriel, University of Connecticut

Individual Presentations

• Preserving the Past and Exploring the Present: Fisk University Archives and Special Collections - Marquita Reed, Middle Tennessee State University

• The Archival Lens: Viewing the Past Through Spelman College Archives - Torren Gatson, Middle Tennessee State University

• Documenting Black Student Protest at Middle Tennessee State University - Sarah Calise, Middle Tennessee State University

• When Archives Cease to Operate: Saving the Archival Record of Knoxville College - Tiffany Nicole Momon, Middle Tennessee State University

Commentator

• ASALH Audience, .