Chronicling Resistance

Philadelphia’s history of civic action will be brought into context with present-day social justice movements in a project that mines the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries’ (PACSCL) extensive archives related to community activism. Pew Fellow, poet, and educator Yolanda Wisher will serve as consulting curator, working with librarians and a team of ten “Activist-Curator Fellows” who will be selected based on their demonstrated commitment to community-based artistic endeavors. The team will research documents held in the special collections and collaborate on exhibitions, programming, and the creation of community archiving toolkits. Exhibitions and other public-facing programs in traditional, nontraditional, and digital spaces will make the PACSCL’s archives more broadly accessible and will cultivate a shared historical authority.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.