In The Debs Archive
The papers of American labor activist and socialist Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) offer a snapshot of early twentieth-century politics.
Deep Zoom: 1836 Broadside “Slave Market of America”
Published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, this single 77 by 55 centimeter sheet tells multiple stories in both text and illustration.
Comparing Editions of David Walker’s Abolitionist Appeal
Digitization allows researchers to trace editorial and authorial changes in archival content. Both are central to the study of this famous abolitionist pamphlet.
Elizabeth Keckley’s Memoir Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four in the White House
Keckley’s decision to write about her employers from the viewpoint of a household laborer--she was seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln--enraged audiences.
Preserving the History of Coronavirus in Queens
Curator Annie Tummino on the Queens College COVID-19 Collection.
Tuskegee University’s Hidden Audio Collections
The archives of the historically black Tuskegee University recently released recordings from 1957 to 1971, with a number by powerful civil rights leaders.
The Invention of the Archive
Seventeenth-century scholars were horrified by how much ancient knowledge had been lost when the monasteries dispersed.
How Museums Tidy Up
Deaccessioning old works can be a complicated and fraught process. But even museums have to spring-clean now and then.
The Strange Tale of the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program
In the 1960s, over seventy scientists and graduate students traveled to U.S. outlying islands as part of the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program.
Archiving the Inventor of the Archive
Scholarship traces the birth of the archive to natural philosophers like John Aubrey.