African-American archivist reaches a third of fundraising goal in just 10 months

Chaitra Powell, African-American collections and outreach archivist for the Southern Historical Collection, wonders what would be said if every young black man in America had been asked to record his thoughts after the death of Trayvon Martin.

“What kind of diversity of thoughts and ideas and feelings would emerge from that?” Powell said. “If some archivist was all-powerful and could collect that, you would have this amazing snapshot of America as sparked by this particular event.”

Powell’s position, which focuses on outreach with African-American communities, might become permanent.

In January, the National Endowment for the Humanities gave the Wilson Library’s Southern Historical Collection a $500,000 challenge grant, which the library must raise $1.5 million to receive.

In the 10 months since, the Southern Historical Collection has raised $508,000 — more than a third of their fundraising goal — which they plan to reach by 2020 for a total endowment of $2 million, said spokesperson for University Libraries Judy Panitch.

“Between my work and the work of my predecessors, people understand the value of this position,” Powell said. “If for some reason we fell short, the library would find a way.”

The position was vacant for almost a year before Powell took over in 2014.

Pellom McDaniels III, curator of African-American Collections at Emory University, said he thinks it is important for universities to prioritize African-American collections.

“We’re losing history in African-American communities because we don’t have a lot of archivists who have an interest in those communities throughout the country to go in and record those histories,” he said.

Powell said her recent work includes a commemoration event at Lincoln High School, a formerly black segregated high school in Chapel Hill, chronicling black history in San Antonio and a family history preservation workshop.

“(My job) has less to do with collecting things in a building as it does with building a sense of pride, a sense of contribution,” she said.

Powell said the library plans to create a community archives position, which will be modeled after the African-American archivist position and focus on outreach with minority groups like LGBTQ and Native American communities.

“I think all of it is about making people feel like they are rightful citizens in this world and that their histories and their stories matter,” she said. “If I can do that, it’s a successful day.”

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