What #archivesglow means to me: Myra Khan

This second #archivesglow moment themed series submission for the Community-Driven Archives (CDA) blog comes from Myra Khan, a student worker here at CDA who is currently a sophomore at Arizona State University (ASU) studying Sustainability with minors in Political Science and Transborder Studies. Myra provides a thoughtful and succinct write up of what #archivesglow means to her. 

Read Myra’s statement below:

Hello! My name is Myra Khan and I am one of the undergraduate student workers at the ASU Library Community-Driven Archives. I started working with the CDA back in February 2019 and I have been a very proud member of the team since. I really value being a part of such a diverse, talented team that helps me grow and learn each day. As a South Asian-American woman, I have always felt underrepresented in American archival history and I want my work here to change that for me and others who also feel unheard or unseen. Working directly with the archives and underrepresented communities really makes me feel like the work I am doing is helping to make a difference in the archives and in history. To me, this feeling of empowerment is my Archives Glow.

My Archives Glow is sparked especially during our workshops when I get to interact with community members one-on-one and hear their story. During one of our recent Scanning and Oral History events at Palabras Bilingual Bookstore, I had the pleasure of being able to help a woman and her elderly mother scan their family photos. The woman had brought two photo albums from home to scan, both albums containing photos from her mother and father’s wedding in the Philippines. As she handed me each photo to scan, she told me the story behind it, painting an auditory story with the smallest details her mother had told her from the color of the sky to the taste of the cake. Not one photo was without importance. 

Amusingly enough, her mother’s anniversary was the very day before our workshop. We were able to sing a little congratulatory song for her mother and spoke with her about the photos as well. Although her mother did not speak English very well, her excitement not only to be looking at the old photographs again but also that she was able to share them with others was clearly evident. She was also able to share more details about some of the pictures with her daughter who had the photo albums but never had time to look through them thoroughly before. That heartwarming feeling of being a part of a bonding moment between a mother and daughter with their shared history was an Archives Glow that lasted for the rest of the week.

While I do enjoy working in our office, going out and interacting with the community reminds me why it is that we all at the CDA do the work that we do. We are a people-driven initiative and I love reminding myself of who we serve. Preserving family histories brings us all together- families, communities, people. Knowing where we came from and the stories that we all carry in our hearts gives us a sense of belonging in the world and reminds us of everything that has transpired for us to be where we are today. Before I graduate, I want to do my part to empower as many people as I can to actualize the goal of us all having a place in the archives. Though there is much work to be done, I am confident that the work of the CDA and others like us will help to make a lasting impact in archives around the world.

The CDA team would like to thank Myra for her submission and her insightful thoughts regarding her #archivesglow moment. Contact me, Jessica Salow, with feedback at Jessica.Salow@asu.edu, as I would love to hear from you your thoughts regarding the work we here at ASU are doing in community archiving around Arizona. We would also love to hear your stories of how you express #archivesglow with others in your life. Also please provide feedback on what you would like to see from us in future blog posts. See you next week!