Who We Are

Bios

We are a collective of trained Black archivists who prioritize Black cultural heritage preservation and memory work. 

We provide training, project management, best practices, and consultation on analog and digital archives upkeep. This includes recommendations for maintaining your own historical materials or how to work with institutions that want to acquire your collection.

Steven D. Booth
Steven D. Booth is the Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) Archive Manager for the Getty Research Institute and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Throughout his career and professional service, he has worked to empower, serve, educate, and advocate for the communities he lives in and is part of through archival means. Steven holds a BA in Music from Morehouse College and an MS in archives management from Simmons College. In 2022, he received the lifetime distinction of being named a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), an honor bestowed by the SAA for outstanding contributions to the archival profession. Steven uses he/him/his pronouns. 

Expertise: archives management, presidential libraries and records, FOIA, photography preservation, Civil Rights Movement, African American music/composers.

Tracy Drake
Tracy Drake is the Director of Special Collections and Archives at Reed College, focused on acquiring, preserving, and providing access to the historical and cultural records of the college. As an information professional, Tracy strives to provide equitable access to the stories of the Black experience. She believes in confronting difficult topics in our collective historical record while encouraging community archival practice. A graduate of Eastern Illinois University with a BS in African American Studies, an MA in history from Roosevelt University, and an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2018, she was chosen as a member of the American Library Association class of Emerging Leaders. Her scholarship and research focus on anti-racism in society and information. Tracy uses she/her/hers pronouns.

Expertise: preservation, curation, community engagement and outreach, Black Chicago history, U.S. history.

Raquel Flores-Clemons
Raquel Flores-Clemons is Head of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection at the Woodson Regional Branch of the Chicago Public Library. In this role, she also serves as Vice-Chairperson for the Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC). An advocate for equity and access, Raquel maintains a deep commitment to capturing historical narratives of communities of color and engages Hip Hop as a method of archival praxis. Raquel is passionate about connecting community members and organizers to valuable primary resources and is intentional in ensuring that historical gaps are filled by documenting and amplifying the often underrepresented historical narratives and contributions of BIPOC communities to better support efforts to create a more equitable society. Raquel received her Master of Library and Information Science with Special Collections certification from the iSchool at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also has studied at Howard University and received her Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Raquel uses she/her/hers pronouns.

Expertise: processing, preservation, exhibit and digital curation, Hip Hop, community engagement, art history.

Erin Glasco
Erin Glasco is an independent archivist and researcher. Erin served as the Research Team Lead for the #NoCopAcademy campaign, a Black and Brown youth-led grassroots effort to stop the construction of a $95 million dollar police and fire training academy on the west side of Chicago. Erin’s interests include exploring how to meaningfully integrate radical empathy, rest, and anti-capitalism into their archival practice, and supporting the documentation of Black, queer, feminist-informed grassroots movement work. They received their Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Special Collections from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Erin uses they/them/theirs pronouns.

Expertise: archival processing and research support for grassroots activism, archival research for film and podcast projects.

Skyla S. Hearn
Skyla is the former inaugural Manager of Archives for Cook County. As an activist archivist, she strives to highlight the unsung contributions of African Americans and those not of the hegemony by providing support to and encouraging those interested in preserving family, community, and social justice-oriented narratives. Skyla earned her Bachelor of Art in Mass Communications and Media Arts, Cinema, and Photography specialization with a minor in Black American Studies from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Special Collections from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Skyla uses she/her/hers pronouns.

Expertise: archives development and management, donor relations, community engagement & outreach, oral history, photography preservation.

Stacie Williams
Stacie Williams is the former Division Chief over Archives and Special Collections at the Chicago Public Library. Through her work, she focuses on ethical labor and cultural production, and the long-term sustainability of digital infrastructure. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an M.S. in Library Science with a concentration in Archives and Manuscripts Management from Simmons College. She serves on the advisory board for the International Digital Library Federation and the Library of Congress’ National Digital Strategy Roundtable. Stacie uses she/her/hers pronouns.

Expertise: data management, data rescue, digitization, digital infrastructure, digital preservation, e-waste lifecycle, archives and manuscripts management, oral history, community outreach and engagement, journalism/mass communication.