Watch the eighth episode of our online interview series, Talking Archives, which features conversations with artists, archivists, and researchers who are part of the A/CA network.
This episode features Melissa J. Nelson in conversation with A/CA's Principal Investigator, Janine Marchessault. Melissa is an award-winning archivist, writer, and educator based in Toronto, Ontario. Her work and research interests include the preservation of Black cultural heritage and ethics of care in the preservation of anti-Black archival materials. Currently, Melissa works as an Archivist at the Archives of Ontario. Throughout this episode, Melissa talks about how she utilizes radical empathy within her archival description work. Archive/Counter-Archive is dedicated to activating and remediating audiovisual archives created by Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis, Inuit), the Black community and People of Colour, womxn, LGBT2Q+ and immigrant communities. Political, resistant, and community-based, counter-archives disrupt conventional narratives and enrich our histories.
Video Editor: Eva Phillips.
Please see the list below for a list of recommended readings and links that Melissa has provided us with:
Archives & Things. [Audio Podcast]. https://anchor.fm/archivesnthings
Michelle Caswell & Marika Cifor. (2016). From Human Rights to Feminist Ethics: Radical Empathy in the Archives. Archivaria, 81, 23–43. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13557
Melissa J. Nelson. Archiving Hate: Racist Materials in Archives https://melissajnelson.com/explore/information-management/archiving-hate-racist-materials-in-archives/
Melissa J. Nelson. [Presentation recording]. Reparative Description: Confronting Anti-Blackness in Archives. Amherstburg Freedom Museum https://youtu.be/hNALmNtyHxY?si=4A4KIdUnwGz7Oheh
The Confession of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. [Exhibit]. The Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives. https://presbyterianarchives.ca/2019/07/15/the-confession-of-the-presbyterian-church-in-canada/
The Life of Rev. Mark Young Stark. [Exhibit]. The Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives. https://presbyterianarchives.ca/2019/06/14/the-life-of-rev-mark-young-stark/