Over the last two years, the staff at the Archives and Special Collections have had the privilege of working with Lauretta King, an NMSU graduate student, as she took on an immense project to preserve the records and history of the university’s Black Programs. She shouldered the task of learning archival processing skills as well as curating an exhibit in Branson Library, “Launching of a Legacy: Black Programs and Community,” that opened this past summer during Juneteenth celebrations on campus, all to ensure the history and experiences of Black students at NMSU would not be lost.
In the following blog post, Lauretta writes about the insights she gained while preserving this important history and what motivated her over the course of this lengthy project.
Thank you Lauretta for your dedication!
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“Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter”. —Chinua Achebe, The Art of Fiction, 1994.
I GOT TO DO SOMETHING EXCITING! I’m doing something that was NOT on my life’s to-do list: I am completing a project at the New Mexico State University Library’s Archives and Special Collections preserving part of NMSU’s Black Programs’ history. If you don’t think that’s a big deal, think again! Aside from athletics, there is little institutional history of African Americans student participation at NMSU.
If you are wondering why I am so excited about this, it is because so much about African Americans has been dictated by long held social and political views, often represented negatively in the media. I know the challenges of coming from an impoverished public school system into an environment where you are expected to be college-ready, and you are not. How do you elevate or maintain your self-esteem while your worth was constantly being challenged? I found the answers in boxes where there was art and poetry, along with words of encouragement from Black faculty, engagement, support, and community. The records cast a slightly different view of the Black student experience at NMSU from the late 1960’s to present, and the particulars of this history was almost lost.
While preparing Black Programs’ office move from its 50-year home at Garcia Annex, I found undisturbed cabinets of papers, pictures, and publications. Without an understanding of their significance, they could have easily been discarded. These documents were rich in historical data about the activities of Black students at NMSU, whose numbers traditionally represent less than 3% of the on-campus population. As I emptied the cabinet drawers into boxes, each led me to a new area to explore, like how did Black Programs get top entertainment and speakers to their events? What resources were available? How did Black students thrive? Something about preserving this information resonated with me because not only was preserving the documents important, I needed to know more. This resulted in a rare opportunity for a person not trained in library or archival work to document a small portion of NMSU history. But I can tell you that this undertaking is not for the faint of heart.
Looking at the 31 boxes that had been set aside from Black Program’s move, I felt an overwhelming sense that I had bitten off more than I could chew. A call to Library’s Archives and Special Collections Department in Branson Library (the Archives), provided me guidance and help.
The process of securing the Black Program documents involved several levels of authority. The first was permission from NMSU’s Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity to set the papers aside from the clean-up efforts. Second was to request independent study to focus on preserving the documents. Next under the supervision of the archives, NMSU Records Management and Retention (RMR) assisted in the initial sorting where the 31 boxes became 10 boxes readied for transfer. Once the documents were transferred to the archives, I was provided both the time and space to curate a collection that represents presence and contributions of Black students at NMSU. Then, the real work began.
Lauretta King processing the Black Programs collection in Branson Library.
Using very basic archiving processes, the documents were sorted into categories that reflect the operational and social aspects of the organization. For this collection, are eight areas that included Operations and Planning, Financials, Events, and Publications. The collection also preserves available historical documents for other Black student charter organizations including: Black Student Association, Black Greek Life, and the National Society of Black Engineers. Every document offered something different. One thing that I learned through the process is that there is more to the story than the Cliffs Notes.
You know that Clara Belle Williams notably took classes in a hallway because of New Mexico’s segregation laws. But I learned through interviews with Williams (Box 18, Video 5) that after she mentioned this unfortunate situation to the dean, she was admitted into the classroom. I was impressed with this because the law was clear, but the university accommodated her request. I also found that during some of the most turbulent racial tension in the country, Black students at NMSU were airing their frustration through poetry and art, not rioting (Box 19). There were demonstrations, but there were also dance parties. In every emotionally charged instance of protest, I saw photographs of white and Hispanic student participation with Black students based on a cause and not divided by a color.
As you work with these documents, like viewing theater, you suspend your views and beliefs long enough to imagine yourself in a period of time that is not necessarily your own. However, in a different geography, Black Programs early days are part of my lived history and this journey was worth both the time and effort. I said earlier that it was not for the faint of heart, but the rewards are unmeasurable. There are now 150 new files contained in 18 boxes, at Branson Library’s Archives and Special Collection that will soon be available for researching Black Programs’ and African American student participation at NMSU.
In the academic world facts, comments, and sources are verified. When claims are not substantiated they are deemed questionable and historical documentation provides the contextual proof of events, not assumptions. Organizational documents provide details of the processes that justify an action. Black Programs’ history is available in general terms from other sources, but the documents show how and why something happened. Consider the future of document preservation in the cyber age - how will we preserve the truth? What will document integrity or even history, look like?