Obama Presidential Center innovates with its online archive proposal
“Obama has been a game-changer from the beginning. If you see the presidential libraries of current living presidents, you’ll see how those centers have evolved. … Going digital is a natural progression of lessons learned from those entities.” ~Adrena Ifill This is a quote from a great discussion that I had with Chicago Tribune reporter […]
Are there places in your community that need to be preserved? Act Now!
In Tallahassee, FL – Four landmarks of African American history are in need of preservation. The National Association for the Preservation of African-American History and Culture (NAPAAHC) recently released a list of threatened properties that serve as important landmarks of African American history. Check out this story on fsunews.com
BBC Radio 4 produces amazing series on history of Black British media
While on the treadmill I started listening to this series and was transfixed….such that a 30 min workout was too short ! “This Radio 4 series covers a huge span of black British theatre, TV and film – from Ira Aldridge to Steve McQueen, and Nina Baden-Semper to Bola Agbaje – it’s a great […]
The Legacy of James Hemings – a Paris-trained Chef enslaved at Monticello
I love it when content looks at history in the present tense. Check out Michel Martin of NPR‘s story on enslaved chef James Hemings’ of Monticello revived in the modern times… Behind The Founding Foodie, A French-Trained Chef Bound By Slavery
Happy Birthday ASALH!!
1915 marked the start of the venerable Association as the established call it and the emerging say ASALH. The mission of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community To read more […]
Inquiring Minds Want to Know – What Do Archivists Do?
People usually ask me if I am archivist – I say no I am an archival advocate. Also know as – some of my closest friends are archivists! Click here to take a peek into what they do all day.
Clean Out the Closet Day – Tips from the Archival Advocate
Recently, I worked with an organization that was doing a spring cleaning. In the course of the exercise, I discovered that some files slated for trash were indeed important archives. Mon Dieu!! Like the old saying goes – one person’s trash is another’s treasure! Take note – I caution organizations to approach spring cleaning with […]
#PreserveYourLegacy- Photo Captions
If you are like me, I often look back and old photographs and wonder – now, who was that in the red hat that I was talking to a 1999 Memorial Day picnic?! I suggest using a soft pencil and writing on the back of the old photos to capture that information. For digital photos […]
#PreserveYourLegacy – Personal Archiving
What’s your story? Take a moment to think about all the great and amazing things you have done in the last 5 years. Now, in 20 years, will you remember what was the most significant event or achievement of 2015? Where was it? When did it happen? What was it? Why was it significant? How […]
Preservation Happens Every Day
When I think of #Preservation – I take an unconventional approach. Did James Baldwin or Bessie Smith know they were making history when they got up every morning? I doubt it, but what I do suspect is that they each had a healthy appreciation for recoding and preserving their observations. One of my favorite authors […]
Scrapbooks are History books
In 1854 Frederick Douglass urged the readers of his newspaper to clip out an article called “Black Heroes”: “Colored men! Save this extract. Cut it out and put it in your Scrap-book.” The item told of armed African American soldiers in the Revolutionary War and listed the names of eighteenth-century “black men who had […]