3.6 Collection Building at Existing Community Events
The project also sought out opportunities to engage in more extensive materials collection at some community events. Examples include:
African American Family History Event 2022 and 2023
“A Proud Heritage African American Family History Event” was a full day of classes and educational opportunities focused on African American genealogical research organized by the Tacoma Family History Center.
CAC staff offered three activities at the event:
a digitization station for scanning family photos
an oral history recording booth
filming of the event’s storytelling contest
At the second annual event in 2023, services were expanded to two digital stations and two oral history stations. Content gathered at both events was made accessible through Northwest ORCA.
Content from the African American Family History Event 2022 and 2023
Rally for Reproductive Rights
After news leaked of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court, a “Rally for Reproductive Rights” was held in front of the US District Courthouse in Tacoma. CAC staff attended the event, asking for volunteers to be photographed with their rally signs and to share their reasons for attending.
Participants commented on the value of documenting the local response to this decision for users who may be investigating this topic or historical moment in the future. As maintaining individual release forms would have been difficult in the crowded outdoor environment, a group release form was developed that asked volunteers to indicate their understanding that their image and audio recording would be made publicly available through the Northwest ORCA database and other library channels.
High winds and the loud surroundings negatively impacted the quality of the audio recordings. These recordings have been maintained as nearline preservation copies. For access in the Northwest ORCA, CAC staff instead transcribed volunteer’s responses and made them accessible as part of the item level metadata associated with that individual’s photograph.
Content from the Rally for Reproductive Rights
Poetry Picnic
“Poetry Picnic” in Tacoma’s South Park was an afternoon of outdoor activities related to poetry hosted by Write253, a local literary arts and printmaking organization, and the Tacoma Public Library. CAC staff recorded oral stories with attendees at the event.
Content from the Poetry Picnic
Black Lives Matter Mural Project
Local artists Dionne Bonner, Kenya Adams, Gwen Jones, Charles Taylor, and Breeze were commissioned by the City of Tacoma to create a Black Lives Matter mural in downtown Tollefson Plaza. The project was a collaboration between the City’s Human Rights Commission and the Tacoma Art Museum with support from the City of Tacoma, the Tacoma Arts Commission, and Tacoma Creates.
According to the artists, the goal of the mural was to
“encourage Tacoma residents to recognize the plight suffered by people of color to obtain equality while at the same time continuing to challenge us to persevere in unity toward racial justice.”
The mural was created over the course of summer 2022. CAC staff worked with the Tacoma Arts Commission to document the creation of the mural and community response.
Short oral history interviews were gathered during community painting days. Images of various stages of the project, documentation of the creation process, and video footage of the dedication and public celebration are being preserved and made accessible in Northwest ORCA.
Content from the Black Lives Matter Mural Project
Neighborhood Branch Preservation Events
Preservation events were held in each library branch to allow patrons from all neighborhoods in Tacoma to share their stories through digitization, individual and partner oral history interviews, creating a comic book story, and by sharing a pop-up display-case exhibit about the library branch and its community.
The following content was collected from
Swasey, Archiving West End Communities
Wheelock, Archiving North End Communities
South Tacoma, Archiving South Tacoma Communities
Kobetich, Archiving Northeast Communities
Mottet, Archiving the East Side at Mottet.
Content from Archiving North End Communities | Archiving South Tacoma Communities | Archiving Northeast Communities | Archiving the East Side at Mottet | Archiving West End Communities
Program Collaborations: Food Bridges Us & Memoir Writing Kit
At least two programs were shared with CAC for content collection.
The first program was a take-home kit created by a colleague at the South Tacoma Branch for teens and adults. The kit was for writing a memoir and included a pre-stamped and addressed envelope for submitting the finished memoir to the Community Archives Center. No submissions have been received as of yet, but it takes time to write a memoir.
The second program was presented by a University of Washington-Tacoma professor sharing how to write about food memories at the Mottet Branch. Participants were encouraged to share their spontaneous writings through digitization at the workshop.
Metro Parks Dash Point Park and Pier Public Meeting
The local parks department, Metro Parks, often holds community discussion events to gather community feedback on various park development projects. The Dash Point Park and Pier was closed several years ago due to safety concerns around the pier.
At this event, the Community Archives Center gathered short oral histories interviews with attendees who discussed their memories of this particular park.
Content from Dash Point Park & Pier Public Meeting
Earth and Diversity Week
Pacific Lutheran University hosted this week to celebrate nature. CAC recorded brief oral history interviews with college students, staff and attendees of the symposiums.
CAC also recorded a group oral history of the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed Council. A collection was created by the university on their website as well as by CAC in the Northwest ORCA database.
Content from Earth and Diversity Week
Stadium High School Library
Weekly visits to this high school’s library and interested classes yielded some oral history participants and digitized poetry.
Content from Stadium High School Library
T-Town 2023
For the 40th anniversary of the Tacoma Dome, a city-wide event was held to celebrate all things Tacoman. The Community Archives Center participated by recording brief oral histories using the prompt, “What does Tacoma mean to you?”
See Appendix E for samples of fliers, sign-up forms, and evaluations used and adapted for each community event.
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