Building Representative Community Archives: Inclusive Strategies in Practice. Hannah Leah Crummé, ed., ALA Neal-Schuman, 2024, 288 p. Softcover, $64.99. 9780838939598

In 2017, the Watzek Library Special Collections began the work of building relationships with the Vietnamese community in Portland, Oregon to address a historical gap in the records housed in their collections. Renowned for its extensive collection of books related to the Lewis and Clark expedition, it became apparent to the Special Collections team that the collection did not fully represent Portland’s history or diverse population (39). Thus began a nearly decade-long project led by Hannah Leah Crummé, the current Head of Watzek Library Special Collections, alongside Dr E.J. Carter, Zoë Maughan, and Vân Truong, to document the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants and refugees whose presence in Oregon has been steadily growing since the 1970s (40). With a wealth of experience grounded in the creation and maintenance of community archives, as outlined in the third chapter of the edited volume, Crummé has assembled ten chapters of case studies and practical knowledge from different contributors who recount their experiences working with or building community archives. The edited volume is designed to provide archives and special collections with workable and innovative frameworks for improving their collections, procedures, and community relationships by addressing disparities in their holdings.

Crummé begins Building Representative Community Archives: Inclusive Strategies in Practice by arguing that “although history is often written by those in power, records are kept by everyone” (xi). Archives have historically prioritized the collection and preservation of records that present a whitewashed perspective of history while failing to accurately document the experiences of marginalized communities who are often excluded from the Western colonial narrative. Crummé points out that the need for this work now “is the result of earlier failures to examine our own approaches with a critical eye” (xxii). The broad range of institutions included in this volume that are grappling with these necessary and sometimes challenging pathways towards inclusive community archiving demonstrates an eagerness to attend to these projects with care and consistency. Not all community archiving methods are alike in structure or application and Crummé posits the included works as non-exhaustive answers to the questions of who should be doing this work, what kinds of projects already exist, whether the work is ever finished, and what should be done next. The effectiveness of the book lies in the diversity of approaches that all in turn answer these questions.

One of the greatest strengths of the volume is the inclusion of highly detailed case studies that outline the successes and missteps of several community archiving projects. The contributors’ transparency and honesty offer readers valuable insight into the real-world challenges and best practices of inclusive archiving. In Chapter 4, the creators of the Voices Out Loud project provide an in-depth look at their oral history initiative that began as a response to the defunding of the University of Tennessee’s Pride Centre. The project started with the intent to provide current and future archives with “a model for approaching LGBTQ+ community outreach and developing sustainable archival collecting strategies” (55). They outline every step of the project, their successes and mistakes, and include numerous examples of the associated costs, consent statements, permission and release forms, interview questions, and other information that was shared with participants. Chapter 1, “Talking White” by Alissa Rae Funderburk, discusses another oral history project from the Margaret Walker Centre at Jackson State University that aimed to digitize and transcribe a vast collection of tape-recorded oral histories from numerous Black communities and organizations in the Mississippi area. Funderburk discusses the sensitive ways in which digitization and transcription must be approached to avoid conforming these histories to a Western style of recording and documenting. The various examples of transcription tools and methods that are outlined and evaluated could be a useful guide to any archive engaging in oral history work.

While many authors discuss new project work, several contributors offer a fresh perspective on the inclusive and remedial work being done to address past mistakes and failures in Special Collections and Archives. They detail their efforts to constantly reassess their collection policies and practices to ensure that communities are accurately represented in their archives. In Chapter 5, Conor M. Casey explores the concepts of “corrective collecting” and “democratizing documentation” as approaches to making community archives increasingly accountable to their stakeholders (117). Casey explains that while the Labor Archives of Washington had always sought to document female-gendered occupations, they decided to expand their collection of “nontraditional areas of employment for women” (135) as part of their recurring efforts to reexamine and improve their collection policies and priorities. In doing so, they participated in several community events and job fairs, created a tradeswomen travelling exhibit, collaborated on a book that discussed women electricians in Seattle, and helped create the Smith-McWilliams Endowment for Working Women’s Archives.

The volume emphasizes community-centered approaches that involve and prioritize the collaboration, contribution, and engagement of the community whose experiences are being represented. While not every contributor can claim the same level of interaction with the communities they seek to document, there is a common thread of building trust, maintaining meaningful relationships, and respecting that the goals of a community may not always align with the goals of an institution. As these points are primarily grounded in case study and experience, the volume positions itself as a strong guide to developing future initiatives. This edited volume would be most valuable to those working in archival environments trying to address the disparities in their collections or develop their own community projects; however, the range of projects discussed and the sensitivity with which they are executed could be a useful starting point for anyone interested in reparative work that centers a marginalized narrative. Contributors range from students to community members to established professionals in the archival field, which underscores the importance of engaging with these topics at any level of archiving. Crummé’s original point is that records are kept by everyone, and so anyone with an interest in preserving a community history would benefit from owning this volume. — Maia Trotter, University of Alberta