During the past semester, fourteen Yale archivists and librarians were part of a collaborative program with the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. It introduced fifteen Black undergraduate students to history research methodologies, library tools and resources, and careers in academia, libraries, and archives. At a well-attended event in early May in the Yale Library, the students presented on their research into a variety of aspects of the Black experience at Yale. A few weeks earlier, the students participated in three lectures by Black library and archives professionals from around the country. Each of the three interviewees – Dorothy Berry, Vicki Coleman, and Dr. Meredith Evans – spoke about their educational background, career path to date, and thoughts about their future careers. Two of the three lectures can be accessed online at the links below.
For further information about the History Keepers Program, contact the Yale Afro-American Cultural Center at: afamhouse@yale.edu.
Dorothy Berry, Umbra Search Metadata and Digitization Lead at the University of Minnesota Libraries.
Dr. Meredith Evans, Director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
Vicki Coleman, Dean of Library Services at the F. D. Bluford Library, North Carolina A&T State University. (lecture not available online)