Internet Archive’s Community Webs program has received a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) and their Digitizing Hidden Collections program to digitize and provide open access to thirty local history collections from six partner organizations across the US and Canada.

“This grant lets us expand access outside of our building and really showcase the stories and lived experience of people and organizations that have been fighting for equality and doing important work throughout Atlanta,” said Derek T. Mosley, Archives Division Manager of the Auburn Avenue Research Library (AARL) on African American History and Culture in Atlanta, Georgia. AARL will receive digitization support for collections documenting leaders, artists, scholars, and advocacy groups in Atlanta. The personal papers of scholars and community leaders Duncan E. Teague, Craig Washington, Anthony “Tony” Daniels, and Dr. Shirlene Holmes will also be digitized.

Four collections will be digitized from Colorado’s Pikes Peak Library District including the records of the Colorado Springs Pride Center, The Citizens Project, and the Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival. A selection of related photographs from the Colorado Springs Gazette will also be made available digitally.

Invisible Histories will partner with the Birmingham Public Library to complete digitization of the papers of prominent leaders in the lesbian communities of Mississippi and Alabama. “Invisible Histories is thrilled to be able to make these very rare and important examples of Southern Lesbian history available for everyone,” Invisible Histories Co-Executive Director Joshua Burford stated.

Collections to be digitized from the San Francisco Public Library include the papers of local authors and activists Barbara M. Cameron and Christopher Hewitt as well as the records of the local theater group Pomo Afro Homos. The ArQuives, based in Canada, will digitize the personal papers of early figures in Canada’s gay liberation movement. 

The Rochester Public Library will digitize the personal papers of Rochester-based gay rights communities and the records of related cultural organizations.  “The eight collections chosen for digitization as part of this grant are a treasure trove for researchers seeking to understand how LGBTQIA+ life and activism has evolved outside of major centers such as New York City and San Francisco,” explained Shalis Worthy, Historical Services Coordinator for the Rochester Public Library.

Once digitized, these collections will be accessible to local communities and researchers  all over the world, providing valuable evidence of community history and culture.