“Curate” is a curious word to pair with archive. Typically, public exhibitions and art galleries are curated. Archives, by contrast, tend to be “created” or “managed.” However, curate accurately describes my work with Tuskegee University’s digital repository this summer. Beyond researching the background of audiovisual materials to populate their metadata, my role as an intern has called for me to manipulate those same materials for publication on the archival webpage. I edit out distracting noises, isolate important vocals, and trim MP3 and MP4 files so that they meet the storage requirements of the website servers. I decide which portions of our materials are relevant and which portions can be excluded from the website (with a note, of course, on how visitors can locate the full version in the archive). I decide the subcategories for each audiovisual file. I often decide whether a file should be included in a particular subcategory or another. While I might not create or manage these materials, I certainly curate them.

Through this act of curation, I have come to appreciate the subjectivity of the archive. Each document, digital or physical, is mediated in some form before being presented to an archive’s visitors. Indeed, the final presentation oftentimes hinges on the judgement call of a single archivist. Ultimately, my role as an intern carries the added responsibility of curation. It also carries with it the added reward of knowing my curatorial efforts will be appreciated by a wide-ranging audience.

To close, I would like to invite you to look at a video I recently curated. This video shows imminent scientist and Tuskegee professor George Washington Carver as he experiments with cross-pollinating flowers. Next, I invite you to view the full version of the clip housed here: https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/30952217;prevRouteTS=1627677147479.

I will leave you with a question: Would you have made the same curatorial choices?

Community Curation

Lesa Redmond