n. (also reparative archive)a collecting repository that intentionally focuses on historically underrepresented peopleHughes-Watkins 2018a, 4When archivists and their institutions acknowledge the marginalization or absence of the oppressed they must respond through establishing a reparative archive that engenders inclusivity. Reparative archival work does not pretend to ignore the imperialist, racist, homophobic, sexist, ableist, and other discriminatory traditions of mainstream archives, but instead acknowledges these failures and engages in conscious actions toward a wholeness that may seem to be an exercise in futility but in actuality is an ethical imperative for all within traditional archival spaces.Crowe 2019, 11–12The data gathered during this survey . . . was utilized in the creation of an exhibition, which we chose to entitle Seeking Grace as both a nod to Grace Mabel Andrews, the first Black woman to receive a four-year BA degree (1908), as well as a reference to the project’s intent to establish a “reparative archive”, one with a focus not only on collection acquisition, but the inclusion of this history in instruction across the disciplines, as well as community-based partnerships and outreach with libraries and museums dedicated to the documentation and representation of the Black experience in the United States.McGurk and Robb 2019, 170–171Prioritizing collections that bring in historically oppressed voices and disrupt the dominant narrative is an important step in creating reparative archives and collections, even if it means deprioritizing other collections.Farwell 2021, 22Those interested in creating reparative archives acknowledge that archival institutions cannot collect everything but suggest that archivists keep an eye toward their repository’s historical collecting, description, and access decisions to understand how they may have left gaps that are crucial to their mission to engage a wide variety of users.Christen et al. 2022, 28A decade later, I am a purposeful archivist. And, as a settler scholar working and living on the homelands of the Nimíipuu and the Palus peoples, I make it the purpose of my archival work to nurture and sustain relationships that centre Indigenous values, knowledge systems, and places to move toward reparative archives that foster relationality.BFCA 2023We are also a one-of-a-kind reparative archive, championing and centering the creativity of Black filmmakers, scholars, and collectors from around the country, around the world, and here in Bloomington, Indiana.
