Documenting Our Stories: Preserving the Archival Collections of Spelman College

FAIN: PG-252851-17

Spelman College (Atlanta, GA 30314-4399)
Holly Smith (Project Director: May 2016 to September 2019)

A preservation assessment, the purchase of preservation supplies, and online preservation training for staff, in an effort to ensure the preservation of more than 5,000 linear feet of administrative records, newspapers, and yearbooks dealing with the history of this college for African American women established in Atlanta in 1881. Highlights include more than 30,000 photographs depicting life at Spelman and assorted materials related to feminism, civil rights, and LGBTQ activism.

This project seeks funding for a conservator to perform a preservation assessment for the Spelman College Archival Collections. A comprehensive assessment is crucial for planning long-term preservation strategies and goals for the diverse collections.  The Spelman Archives were officially established in 1981, as part of the Women's Research and Resource Center. As the official repository for Spelman College, the Archives contains the papers of the past presidents, faculty, staff, alumnae, and students, as well as a rich photographic collection containing more than 30,000 images from the late 19th century to the present.  In addition to preserving the institutional history of the College, as part of the Women's Center the Archives also documents women of the African Diaspora involved in social justice activism, civil rights, LGBTQ advocacy, and black feminism.