Document Type
Article
Abstract
[First paragraph]
Researchers with questions about underrepresented or marginalized communities - those where inequity, in terms of race, class, gender, or some combination of the three, is present - often find the historical records in archives and special collections lacking sources. This issue is multifactorial: first, archivists are rarely members of the underrepresented communities they seek to document. As a result, any attempt on the part of the archivist to acquire records for the archives may be met with a lack of trust on the part of the identified community. Second, the records of underrepresented communities are often ephemeral or hidden, in whole or in part due to the community's lack of trust that the truth of that community's history or narrative will be empathized with or understood. Third, many communities either lack the resources to document themselves or use non-text based methods (oral history, storytelling, performance, visual arts, etc.) to do so. Fourth, the records that do arrive in the archives often document individuals and organizations with resources (i.e. cultural capital and money). In addition to this, records received often document only the more positive aspects of these powerful individuals and organizations.
Repository Citation
Crowe, Katherine M., and Nicole M. Joseph. "Reconstructing History: African American Alumnae at the University of Denver." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 16, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1–18. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol16/iss1/6