3.5 Collection Building with Organizations
Direct outreach to organizations resulted in the development of new and emerging partnerships. Many organizations indicated an interest in depositing records, pursuing digitization efforts, or organizing oral history projects with their members.
Following the participatory principles of the project design, CAC staff were intentional about following the lead of the community organization and allowing them to shape the direction of the partnership. Over the course of Phase II, the following collection-building activities resulted from these community organization partnerships:
Tacoma Community House
Founded in 1910, Tacoma Community House (TCH) is a community-based service center for immigrants and refugees. Adult students enrolled in the 2022 English/Language Arts 3-4 classes at TCH were invited to participate in short oral history interviews with CAC staff.
A series of questions were developed and shared in advance with participants. These questions asked participants to discuss their journey to Tacoma, how their expectations of the United States may have differed from their experience, and their future plans. The questions were developed in consultation with TCH staff and instructors.
Because the project was embedded into English language classes, the interviews were recorded in English. Oral History Release Forms were translated into the most prevalent first languages of current students. The interviews, along with images of the students, were made available in Northwest ORCA.
Based on the success of the oral history project, CAC staff met with TCH staff to discuss the possibility of including the organization’s operational records, photographs, and other materials in the CAC collection. It was determined that a distributed model would be implemented that would allow TCH to retain their records onsite but for the description of those records to be made available through the CAC database. CAC staff worked onsite at TCH to arrange and describe a selection of their historical records and digitize content with high research value and anticipated community interest.
Tacoma-Pierce County Black Collective
During Phase I, CAC Staff presented at a meeting of the Tacoma-Pierce County Black Collective to provide an overview of the project. Over the course of Phase II, staff stayed in touch with organization members who were producing a documentary about the history of the group.
After the film’s completion, Black Collective members expressed interest in working with the CAC to preserve and provide access to extended interview footage gathered for the documentary project along with other materials produced by the collective including documentation related to Black History Month programming and education.
Group leaders expressed concern about content produced by the Collective being reused or reproduced without consent of the organization. CAC staff discussed several options with the group for making their content accessible through Northwest ORCA while still making sure reuse of the contributed materials was in line with the wishes of the organization. CAC staff worked with the group to craft a specific reproduction and use statement and to develop an application process that would allow a committee of the Black Collective to approve reuse.
While collection-specific restrictions can present logistical challenges for archives staff, the CAC is organized around a community-centered, post-custodial model. It was important to recognize the concerns of the organization and to partner with them to develop a solution that would allow preservation and access while limiting the potential for their content to be reproduced and utilized without their involvement or consent.
Radio Tacoma
Radio Tacoma is a volunteer-run, low-power FM radio station that airs programming created by the Tacoma community. Initial contact was made through a member of the library staff familiar with the station and their programs. CAC staff participated in a meeting between Radio Tacoma and library staff about possible library-wide partnerships.
This conversation resulted in the identification of particular Radio Tacoma hosts who were interested in depositing their past programs with the Community Archives Center to make available through the Northwest ORCA database. This initial conversation led to a collection of the full past programming catalog of three Radio Tacoma shows.
These shows provide representative pieces of evidence of Radio Tacoma’s programs and relate to topics not currently well represented in local history collections, particularly marijuana legalization and climate change.
WILLO
The Women’s Intergenerational Living Legacy Organization (WILLO) was founded by Tacoma resident Seong Shin in 2012 with the goal of bringing together
“women of all ages, races and cultures to share their life stories in order to inspire others in the community.”
WILLO began hosting public storytelling events in 2014. These events engaged local women in discussion about their stories. Some storytellers have included
Rosa Franklin, the first Black woman to serve in the Washington State Senate
Ramona Bennett, Puyallup Tribal Leader and Fishing Rights Activist
Karen Vialle, the first woman to serve as Mayor of Tacoma
Seong Shin and other WILLO organizers agreed to transfer the extensive library of born digital videos from these storytelling events to the Community Archives Center to be made publicly available for current and future users. The connection to this organization emerged through word of mouth, prompting WILLO to reach out directly to the CAC.
Hilltop Action Coalition
The Hilltop Action Coalition is an organization focused on mobilizing and empowering individuals, families, businesses, and organizations in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma. Through conversations with the organization about a possible transfer of organizational records, the CAC partnered with HAC to preserve and provide access to the Hilltop Action Journal, a print and digital community newspaper published every other month.
The CAC database now provides access to digital versions, including issues that were not circulated in print form during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as physical copies.
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