👆 Please be sure to bring the symbol of achievement you’d like to share to the Tuesday night celebration! (See button above for more info about that.)

Thank you for joining us in New Orleans, November 7th-9th, 2023 for Architecting Sustainable Futures at Five (ASF@5) to highlight our successes over the last five years and plan for the future of community-based archives and independent cultural memory organizations that are committed to documenting and celebrating the lived experiences of marginalized and oppressed people. Whether you are new to our network or an old friend, we are excited to be in community with you next month. 

When we hosted the first ASF meeting in 2018, Shift Collective and all of the attendees were committed to seeing real change in the funding landscape for these organizations that could help put them on a more sustainable path. And there have certainly been some changes since we last met. Funding to community-based archives and independent cultural memory organizations has grown in the last five years. Funders have made significant changes in their funding models to be more inclusive of these organizations as well, including the Mellon Foundation developing a program that for the first time included a call for proposals and that allowed for funding of operations at community-based archives. And funders like Council on Library and Information Resources, the National Endowment of Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services have all tried to find ways to be more inclusive of these organizations through new funding programs, changes in application processes, and more intentional engagement. Community-based archives have also continued to grow during the last five years thanks in part to these increased funding opportunities, but more importantly through support from their local communities and the hard work of their founders, staff, and volunteers. 

We look forward to continuing the good work in New Orleans!

Important Developing News

Some of you have asked about national news reports describing the potential for saltwater intrusion into New Orleans’ drinking water systems. The latest predictions show that conditions are growing increasingly favorable to keep the salt wedge at bay, far downriver of the city. Even if saltwater were to reach New Orleans, it would not do so until the end of November, well after our convening. And new forecasts show a strong possibility that most of the city could be spared from the threat altogether — as of last week the salt wedge had retreated significantly. We will continue to monitor the saltwater intrusion situation, but at this time, we do not expect it to be an issue that will impact our convening.

Covid19 Protocols

Covid19 is still happening. People are still getting sick with the virus. We encourage everyone attending the event to take precautions and care for themselves in the best way they see fit, including getting vaccinated against the virus before attending and wearing masks during the event. There will be outside eating options for all of our meals. Attendees will not be required to wear masks during the meetings and other social events but we strongly encourage folks to mask up if they are comfortable. We will have some KN95 masks and covid tests available during the meeting should you want them. Project N95 has a good selection of masks. 

ASF@5 Participating organizations:

• Archiving the Black Web

• Ashé Cultural Arts Center

• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

• Black Archives of Mid-America

• Black Cultural Archives

• Black Film Archive

• Black in Appalachia

• Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California

• Council on Library and Information Resources

• Densho

• Don't Shoot Portland

• Eternal Seeds

• Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web

• Guardians of the Flame Maroon Society

• Hallie Q. Brown Community Center

• Highlander Research and Education Center

• Institute for Museum and Library Services

• Interference Archive

• Invisible Histories Project

• La Historia Historical Society

• Manilatown Heritage Foundation and the International Hotel Manilatown Center

• Mellon Foundation

• Mescalero Community Library

• National Endowment for the Humanities

• National Historical Publications and Records Commission

• Neighborhood Story Project

• New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation

• Philippine Louisiana Historical Society

• Polo Silk Photography

• Queens Public Library

• Shorefront Legacy Center

• Skid Row History Museum and Archive

• South Asian American Digital Archive

• Spelman College

• Texas After Violence Project

• UCLA Community Archives Lab

• Urban Legacy Lands Initiative

• Warrior Women Project Archive

With Support From:

Related Research: