Last month, Princeton University in New Jersey held its inaugural Archives Research and Collaborative (ARCH) program on campus. Fourteen students from five historically Black colleges and universities spent five days on the Princeton campus with the goal of interesting them in careers in archives research. Students from Howard University, Lincoln University, Texas Southern University, Tougaloo College, and Tuskegee University participated in the program.
Students received a behind-the-scenes look at how archival material is processed and preserved, as well as access to some of the university’s collections. In addition, the students heard presentations and participated in discussions with the Princeton University library staff and visiting colleagues from the participating HBCUs.
“Archives play a crucial role in our understanding of history, which includes the importance of diversity within that history,” said Anne Jarvis, the Robert H. Taylor 1930 University Librarian at Princeton. “Working together with colleagues from historically Black colleges and universities on this program has meant that we are providing students with practical ways in which they can work on their archives back at their home institutions. If the work appeals to students, they may then consider pursuing archival work after graduation and thus help to diversify the profession.”
The program is an outgrowth of the Princeton and Slavery Project, a research effort begun in 2013 to explore the University’s involvement with the institution of slavery. “Research during that project brought a focus on the university’s archives and how the narrative history of slavery in Princeton has been shaped by which materials archivists choose to preserve,” said Dan Linke, university archivist and curator of public policy papers.
A video about the project may be viewed below.
THIS WOULD BE A PREMIUM EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE SPELMAN COLLEGE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, WHICH IS THE ONLY OH PROJECT IN THE NATION THAT HAS PUBLISHED TWO VOLUMES OF A STUDENT-EDITED ANTHOLOGY OF NARRATIVES SHARED BY AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN ELDERS OF THE SOUTH ACROSS LINES OF CLASS IN INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED BY AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN STUDENTS ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES AT A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE FOR WOMEN LOCATED IN THE SOUTH. .THE NARRATORS RANGE IN AGE FROM SEVENTY TO 107.
THIS ACADEMIC YEAR (2018-2019), MATERIAL FROM THE SPELMAN ORAL HISTORY PROJECT ARCHIVE WILL BE DIGITIZED AT THE AUC WOODRUFF LIBRARY, WHICH PROVIDES SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS FOR PROJECT STUDENTS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ARCHIVAL RESEARCH TO THEIR STUDIES AT SPELMAN.