Engage, educate and empower!
Established in 2017 with the support of Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, ASU Library’s Community-Driven Archives Initiative seeks to:
- Build strong relationships with historically marginalized communities (Latinx, Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, Indigenous, and LGBTQ).
- Work with Community Archivists to redefine the traditional definition and function of an archive.
- Center the lived experiences and knowledge of community members.
- Create intergenerational and intersectional safe spaces that reimagine archives and support lifelong learning.
- Acknowledge historical trauma and support healing projects led by the communities who are breaking cycles of erasure.
- Advocate for equal ownership of archives and shared stewardship responsibilities by providing free access to archival collections and library resources
Collections
In order to share untold stories and history, ASU Library seeks to digitize and make publicly accessible existing archival collections from the Chicano/a Research Collection and Greater Arizona Collection. The following collections have been made accessible on PRISM.

Bj Bud Memorial Archives
Largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) collection in Arizona

Graciela Gil Olivarez Photographs
Documents the life and work of Graciela, a Chicana community activist and organizer, between 1951 and 1982.

Rebecca Muñoz Gutierrez Photographs
Preserves the history of the Muñoz family and how they helped establish Los Conquistadores, the first Mexican American student organization at Arizona State University in 1937.

Teodoro Ocampo and Mariana Rodriguez Ocampo Family Photograph Collection
Documents the legacy of the Ocampo, Quesada, Ortega, and Valencia families between 1860 and 1980s in Arizona.

Valley Friends of the Farm Workers Photographs
Documents Arizona farm worker history and Cesar Chavez's "Fast of Love" in 1972.