Community-Driven Archives Initiative

A man wearing white cotton gloves sorts through photos and documents from a bin.

Mission

ASU Library’s Community-Driven Archives (CDA) Initiative is reimagining and transforming 21st century academic libraries and archives by developing and implementing innovative solutions that address inequities, erasure, and trauma. Our award winning initiative advances ASU’s research and public service mission by creating a collaborative culture that models reparative justice, diversity, inclusion and broadens access to and preservation of knowledge.

Community Archivist

More than research and preservation, CDA is helping historically marginalized communities process and remember by centering their knowledge. Seeing yourself in history, probably for the first time, and then reflecting on it leads to personal and collective healing. We humanize ourselves and others when we take action, work with archives, and share our stories.

Nancy Liliana GodoyDirector and Associate Archivist
ASU Events

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Applications now open for 2024-2025 Community Archivist Fellowship

The Community Archivist Fellowship Program at the ASU Library is looking for community college students interested in becoming professionally trained archivists or librarians. Students will be introduced to community-driven archives and work closely with archivists and staff from the Community-Drive...

Portrait of Jessica Salow reviewing archival materials

Reclaiming a lost history

Arizona’s Black and African American community has woefully been underrepresented in the telling of the state’s history. However, a repository at Arizona State University that has been quietly taking shape aims to properly acknowledge the influence and rich history of Black and African American com...

Headshot of Janine Nelson wearing black rimmed glasses.

Memory Keepers Fellowship: Janine Nelson

Introductions: The Memory Keepers Fellowship program is a project partnered between ASU’s Community Driven Archive Initiative and the Labriola Center. The fellowship is geared for BIPOC students at local community colleges and for them to explore the field of Library Information Science early i...

Yearbook portrait of Benton James

ASU archivists hoping to learn more about early African American students

The eyes grab you first. They stare at you from the black-and-white photo, soft and, it seems, inquisitive. Zoom out, and you notice the man’s appearance. Well-dressed in a suit jacket, a white dress shirt and a tie that is knotted perfectly. His hair is short. His name is Benton James and, in 1924,...