Kent, OH—Nearly twenty colleges and universities around the country have joined to launch Project STAND, an online hub to heighten the awareness of archival and historical collections documenting student activism around the United States.

STAND will focus on digital and analog primary sources that document the activities of student groups that represent the concerns of historically marginalized communities (e.g., African American, Chicano/a, LGBTQ, religious minorities, disabled etc.). STAND will also highlight the work of others (e.g., faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni) who advocate for or support the interests of those communities.

The project was established in the fall of 2016 to bring together academic institutions from across the state of Ohio but has since broadened and includes representatives from Chicago State University, University of Illinois, The University of Michigan, South Carolina State University and Jackson State. This exciting initiative was originally conceived by Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, University Archivist at Kent State University and Tamar Chute, University Archivist at The Ohio State University.

Almost 160 collection assessments have been completed and the results show a wide variety of issues that inspired students to protest and to demonstrate, such as anti-slavery, the Vietnam War era, LGBTQ rights, anti-apartheid, civil rights and racial equality, and women’s rights. These collections are rich in correspondence, diaries, photographs, and posters.

STAND provides an opportunity for reflection and discussion of the meaning and impact of the stories and events documented in the collections, both as a place in history and as an influence on our actions in the present.  Please contact us if you are interested in STANDing with this effort by adding your repository’s collections! Contact: Lae’l and Tamar at the following email address: standarchives@gmail.com.

For more information about Project STAND please see our website