African American Documentation Initiative: Value of Family Archives
Resources to empower African American families to preserve their documentary heritage
from the Southern Historical Collection
"Coming home from camp" circa 1918. From the Grigsby Family Papers, circa 1918-2002, UNC Southern Historical Collection.
Value of Family Archives
- From generation to generation, we pass along stories, letters, photo albums, mementos, journals. Our family histories give our lives meaning.
- Our family histories are also a part of the story of our state, the region, and the country.
- One way to activate your family archive is to write a memoir. Read "How to Write a Family Memoir," by author William Zinsser.
"listen children" by Lucille Clifton
listen children
keep this in the place
you have for keeping
always
keep it all ways
we have never hated black
listen
we have been ashamed
hopeless tired mad
but always
all ways
we loved us
we have always loved each other
children all ways
pass it on
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