Author: Leslie Campos

Reshaping Black Culture Through the Archives

Terrie Boddie, “Prison Industrial”, 2018

On October 19, 2019 I attended the Black Portraiture[s] V:  Memory and the Archive, Past. Present. Future. Conference hosted by New York University.  I attended two panel discussions.  The first  panel I attended was entitled:  Archival Noise:  Black Women, Sonic Remains and Afterlives in Transatlantic Slavery Archives.  There were four presenters who each contributed to the panel by discussing how literature, sound, and various other forms of artistry conveyed the harsh realities of black women during and after the transatlantic slave trade.  The panel discussion was compelling, but I found there was a notable absence of the role of archives in their research.  Only one panelist, I. Augustus Durham in his presentation on “I Love “Lucy” I Think?:  The Makings of Kendrick Dinkinesh” made mention of “the archive”,  but only in passing when he said: “the artist’s (team of creatives) had a deep sense of “the archive”. (Durham, 2019).  His statement was referencing the symbolism used to create an artistic piece by the hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar.   He did not mention which archival records he was referring to, nor did he mention what archival analysis was utilized to arrive at such a conclusion.   As this was a panel of humanities scholars, this led me to believe there was a distinction being made between the “archive” and “the archives”, and I was immediately reminded of the misconception commonly held in humanities studies about “the archive”, and archival studies.

Michelle Caswell who is a writer, scholar, and archivist writes:  “For humanities scholars, “the archive” denotes a hypothetical wonderland…” (Caswell, 1).  This was implied in Durham’s statement in reference to the archive.  She goes on to state that there are two separate discussions taking place between archival studies scholars and Humanities Scholars:

“the archive” by humanities scholars and (of) archives by archival studies scholars are happening on two separate tracks in which scholars in both disciplines are largely not taking part in the same conversations, not speaking the same conceptual languages and not benefiting from each other’s insights” (Caswell 1-2).

It was very compelling to see this disconnect between the two disciplines actually taking place in academic discourse.

These separate tracks became even more evident during the second panel discussion of the day called:  “New Media, Techno, Archive, and Art.  Speakers on this panel discussed AI (Artificial Intelligence), big data, new media art, and addressed the biases embedded within these technologies.  The panelist I would like to highlight is Dorothy Berry who is an Archivist at Houghton Library at Harvard University.  Her presentation was entitled:  “Archives in the Age of Digital Reproduction:  Towards Discoverable Blackness.  In her presentation she discussed the importance of Provenance in archival study and ways it could be applied in archival preservation of the historical records of African Americans.  She stressed the importance of context in analyzing these archival records and the need for more collective description.  She then went on to discuss the embedded racism found in the Library of Congress subject headings, and why patrons of color can be more active pointing out these things for modification (Berry, 2019).

While listening to Berry I was again reminded of the power archivists have in shaping memory.  When dealing with marginalized communities whose histories and experiences have been largely misrepresented, applying  provenance, and cultivating proper context in archival preservation becomes an even more daunting task:

“The nature of the resulting “archive” thus has serious consequences for administrative accountability, citizen rights, collective memory, and historical knowledge, all of which are shaped – tacitly, subtly, sometimes unconsciously, yet profoundly – by the naturalized, largely invisible, and rarely questioned power of archives (Swartz & Cook, 4).

Berry’s presentation demonstrated the influence archivists have in shaping collective memory.  Berry also was able to convey the role racism plays (whether intentional or not) in affecting how African American archival records are archived. Berry’s presentation touched on issues of diversity emphasizing in her talk that 89 percent of archivists are white . She emphasized there was much need for community engagement (Berry, 2019).  In The Quest For Diversity in Library Staffing: From Awareness to Action, Jennifer Vinopal using the ALA’s 2007 Diversity Counts Report states:  “…a vicious cycle that the lack of diversity perpetuates: “[T]he lack of diversity in regards to race and ethnicity, age group, disability, and other dimensions…work [sic]to distance the very communities they seek to attract” (Vinopal, 2013).  This “vicious cycle” is reinforced by Berry’s call for more participation from people of color in bringing awareness to biases within the archives, specifically in the archival preservation of African American Culture. There is a sentiment within the African American Community due to the forms of racism endured such as Jim Crow, that has led African Americans to internalize the belief that they are not welcome in certain spaces.  I see this sentimentality being played out here, in reference to the lack of participation from the African American community, even in the reframing of African American culture through the archives.

As I mentioned earlier, I attended two panels each panel was very informative, and was very different from one another. The theme of the conference was memory and archive through the lens of the black experience.  The topics of discussion were about how these concepts intersect and how we can better understand, work through, and work with the power structures that govern our society in the United States and abroad.  Also, how marginalized groups can empower themselves with the use of modern technology to create, preserve, and reframe culture.  As the technological age continues to advance rapidly, we are continuously challenged to find ways to adapt.  Issues of privacy, racism, inclusivity, cultural preservation, and transparency are more important than ever.  These topics will continue to be of great concern as we continue to move forward. Through these panel discussions I was able to begin to identify themes from course discussions, and see how they manifest themselves through academic discourse.

Works cited:

Berry, D. (2019, October). Archives in the Age of Digital Reproduction:  Towards discoverable blackness.  Paper presented at the Black Portraiture[s] V Memory and the Archive Past. present. Future. NewYork University. New York, NY

Durham, A. I. (2019, October) I love “lucy’, I think?: The makings of kendrick dinkinesh.  Paper presented at the Black Portraiture[s] V Memory and the Archive Past. Present. Future. New York University. New York, NY.

Caswell, M. (2016) “The Archive” is not the archives:  Acknowledging the intellectual contributions of archival studies. Reconstruction:  Studies in contemporary culture 16(1). Retrieved from:  https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bn4v1fk

Vinopal, J. (2013, January, 13). The quest for diversity in library staffing:  From awareness to action. In the Library with a Lead Pipe Retrieved from:  http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2016/quest-for-diversity

Schwartz, J.M., Cook,T. (2002). Archives, records, and power:  The making of modern memory. Archival Science, 2 , 1-19, Retrieved from: https://www.nyu.edu/classes/bkg/methods/schwartz.pdf

Illustration:  Boddie, T. (2018) Prison Industrial.

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Person, place, thing: When old meets new

Thing:  The Evening World Newspaper

Last weekend my family were making repairs to our shed in the backyard. As they took down some of the old wood from the wall, they discovered a piece of an old newspaper.  The paper was wet from the condensation in wall and they placed it on a flat surface covered by a black plastic bag to give it time to dry, and protect it from light.  Two days passed.  I was afraid to damage the paper but, finally I gained the courage to remove the bag to try to inspect what was underneath.  It was a newspaper called the Evening World dated Wednesday, June 12, 1907!  I was shocked and intrigued.  The newspaper was so fragile.  I practically came apart in hands, but I managed to get some pictures. 

The Evening World Newspaper, Wednesday, June 12, 1907 Photo: Leslie Campos

It was amazing to see the types of advertisements for lawyers, dressmakers, medicines, and tinctures.  I marveled at the low prices.  The biggest story on one of the pages was about roller skaters.  It was an article talking about what the New York City Streets would come to if the these “crazed” young people were allowed to take over with roller skates.  I mused to myself wondering what the people of that time would think now if the saw all the young folks today on skateboards!  I’ve always had an avid curiosity about the past.  I’ve read countless stories about the lives of people from different eras.  And I was excited to have an actual 112-year-old newspaper in my hands.

Person:  Michele Valerie Cloonan

I recently read an article by Michele Valerie Cloonan entitled “W(h)ither Preservation?” Cloonan is a Professor and Dean Emerita at Simmons College.  She is also the editor of Preservation, Digital Technology and Culture. 

In her article she takes issue with the disappearance of preservation departments in lieu of digital initiatives at various institutions, and she puts forth the question: “Whither we (preservationists) should be going rather than letting these programs die” (Cloonan, 2001). As we move further into the digital era there have been many developments in technology that have allowed new methods of preservation to emerge.  But with the new technology there are new concerns.  In libraries there are concerns about whether an object should be retained or just the digitized information (Cloonan, 2001).  Due to the nature of digitized data, there are also questions about the altering of documents that have been reformatted, as well as, questions with regard to security.  Ensuring access points for all this digital information is also an issue that causes some trepidation (Cloonan, 2001). 

Place:  Museum of the City Of New York                                

Museum of the City of New York Photo: Leslie Campos

With all these concepts floating around in my head along with my fascinating newspaper discovery, I decided to take a trip to the Museum of the City of New York.  I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but when I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised.  I noticed that there was an amazing array of Exhibits that seemed to combine both the tractional museum model of artifact and description combined with new media.  There were two exhibits in particular that had lasting effect on me.  New York at its Core World City, and the Voice of the Village Exhibit. 

NY City at its Core consisted of three presentations:  Port City 1609-1898, World City 1898-2012, and Future Lab.  The Port city Exhibit was particularly interesting.  It was a small display in a darkened room with a series of various interactive displays and digitized maps throughout. In particular there was a virtual display of Mulberry Street.  The interactive component allowed the viewer to investigate the photo in great detail.  The display allowed you to zoom in on the digitized photo to highlight sections, as well as, find out additional details.  The convergence of media to create such a display added to the user experience, and gave what would have been a simple photograph new life.

The Voice of the Village Exhibit was a more traditional exhibit highlighting photographs and print chronicling historic moments in New York City’s history.  In light of my recent find, it was poignant to see how the impact of a newspaper could affect how we contextualize events that contribute to how we think about history.  The use of the actual newspaper as part of the exhibit also spoke to the importance of using both new technology alongside physical artifacts. 

Village Voice Covers, May 23, 1963, Newsprint, Collection of the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah

Overall my visit to the Museum of the City of New York was enlightening.  I chose this museum specifically to get a better sense of what New York was like during the period the, June 12, 1907, Evening World Newspaper issue was published.  It helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the environment, and the factors that lead to what was considered the news for the day.  It had been a while since I visited a museum, and I was captivated by the new methods used in the presentation of historical content.  These exhibits were a vibrant integration of both the established methods of cultural preservation with leading edge technologies.  I found them to be engaging and thought provoking.   Cloonan writes: “…we must confront the fact that the experience of using digital documents will be different with each new generation of use” (Cloonan, 2001).  While this is true, I believe it is part of the process.  Each generation should and will project their own set of values and interpretations onto preserved history to give it broader context.  We see this trend happening now in our quest to restructure our own institutions in an effort to become more transparent and inclusive.  Furthermore, the digitization of documents will give an extended life to antiquities when they are no longer physically present.  Hopefully, with continued interdisciplinary discourse we will find ways to ensure greater security and continued access to these treasures that will engage the public. 

In closing, sadly it was too late to save the newspaper we found in the wall.  In just a short time of being exposed to the elements it fell apart, but at least (as I stated above) I managed to get some good pictures.  I was also able to find a digitized copy of the Evening World through the Library of Congress Website. Interestingly two of the pages I have are not present in the digitized copy.  To View the digitized copy click here.


Citations:

Cloonan, M. V. (2001). W(H)ITHER Preservation? The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 71(2), 231-242. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.pratt.edu:2048/stable/4309507

Library of Congress, June, 12, 1907, Evening World, [Newspaper] Chronicling America:  Historic Newspapers, Library of Congress Retrieved from  https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1907-06-12/ed-1/

McDarrah, F.W. (1926-2007), Village Voice Covers, May 23, 1963, Newsprint, Collection of the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah

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