Partnering with Educators
Partnering with Educators Support for truth in the classroom starts with access beyond the classroom. Teachers use digitized primary sources to bring local history into modern classrooms. Educators are being asked to teach truth in an environment where truth is increasingly controversial. They’re facing banned books, a censored curriculum, and growing political pressure to sanitize […]
This Week in History: May 26th – June 1st
Imagine being asked, “What are you in for?” and you have to answer “mowing the lawn”. This situation is something that a man from Ohio could have experienced in 2009. On May 30th, the Bellevue Gazette reported that a man had been arrested for mowing grass in Sandusky, Ohio. John Hamilton had grown frustrated with […]
Partnering with Like-Minded Institutions
Partnering with Like-Minded Institutions Access isn’t owned by one organization—it’s shared by all of us. A visual representation of multiple institutions collaborating on public access initiatives. No institution holds the whole story. That’s why we have to work together.Libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, schools—these organizations may operate independently, but they serve a shared purpose: connecting […]
This Week in History: May 19th – May 25th
On May 19, 2018, British Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle were married in a lavish royal wedding. The ceremony, which cost approximately £32 million, took place at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle and welcomed around 600 guests. Beyond those invited, hundreds of millions watched the event virtually worldwide, witnessing this historic occasion. […]
Partnerships Are Pivotal
Partnerships Are Pivotal Access isn’t just a mission. It’s a movement—powered by people working together. A collaborative team works together to digitize and organize community history. You can’t defend access in isolation. Digitizing history, making it freely available, and keeping it open to the public isn’t something most institutions can take on alone. The only […]
This Week in History- May 12th – May 18th
Let’s start at the beginning, the birth of advertising, with a couple of ads from the 1890s. This era of advertising isn’t necessarily remarkable. Advertisements were fairly straightforward, using the hard sell tactic to get their point across. They would include the name of the business, what they were selling, and where you can find […]
Beyond The Building
Beyond The Building If history is locked behind doors, then it’s not truly public. A building can’t serve the public if people can’t reach it. Physical access is no longer enough, especially when hours are cut, collections are removed, or the public is pushed away altogether. Digitization changes the equation. It removes physical and logistical […]
This Week in History- May 5th – May 11th
After 10 years, the hit sitcom “Friends” aired its final episode on May 6th, 2004. Titled “The Last One”, viewers watched as the characters they had come to love finally got resolution for their storylines. For those not familiar with Friends, the show’s premise was centered around a group of 6 friends as they navigate […]
The Responsibility of Open Access
The Responsibility of Open Access Digitization isn’t about paper—it’s about power. Digitized documents create a bridge between the past and present. There is a campaign underway to control the narrative of our past—an agenda that seeks not only to restrict access to historical records, but to reframe, rewrite, and selectively erase the stories that challenge […]
This Week in History- April 28th – May 4th
There are two major ways that May 1st is celebrated around the world. The first is International Labor Day, created by the American Federation of Labor in 1886 to protest poor working conditions. In 1886, it was incredibly common for workers to put in 16-hour days, so the AFL called for a day of striking […]
This Week in History- April 21st – April 27th
Earth Day takes place every year on April 22nd, and has for decades been a day for people to get outside and help Mother Nature. Many communities will come together to plant trees or pick up trash alongside the highways to celebrate. One writer at The Times Record, published in Fort Smith, Arkansas, applauded the […]
When Access Is Limited, So Is Accountability
When Access Is Limited, So Is Accountability A Weekly Perspective Access and accountability are often bound together—when one is removed, the other fades with it. Lately, it feels like I’ve lost all sense of time. The pace of change has been so rapid, so unrelenting, that it’s difficult to process just how much damage has […]
This Week in History- April 14th – April 20th
On April 13th, 2002, in Bound Brook, New Jersey, hundreds of people gathered to re-enact the Revolutionary War battle that happened there decades ago. The Battle of Bound Brook took place on April 13th, 1777, where British forces used the element of surprise to attack the Continental Army. Now, in Bound Brook, New Jersey, residents […]
This Week in History- April 7th – April 13th
The August National Golf Club was founded by famous golfers Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts in 1932. The 365-acre course was built after the two purchased a property which was previously a plant nursery (and an antebellum plantation) called Fruitland Nurseries. The course first opened to limited members in December of 1932 and formally opened […]
This Week in History- March 24th through March 30th
Our first “This Day in History” comes from The Daily Freeman Journal, published in Webster City, Iowa. I pulled two segments out of the Hamilton County Community History Archive, one published on March 24th, 2009, and the other on March 27th, 2009. On March 24th, they highlighted the 1989 Exon Oil Spill in an Alaskan […]
This Week in History- March 10th through March 16th
On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku Region of Japan shook with forces stronger than any earthquake they had experienced before. A 9.1 Magnitude earthquake with an epicenter just off the coast of the mainland struck in the afternoon of an otherwise normal day. The earthquake was so powerful that it was felt all the way […]
History is not just something that happened—it’s something happening right now.
Access to historical records has never mattered more. Libraries, archives, and educators are on the front lines, fighting against efforts to erase, rewrite, or whitewash history. What’s at stake isn’t just the past—it’s the ability of future generations to learn from it, understand it, and ensure the full truth is never lost. These materials in your archives do more than help us remember; they help us learn, question, and grow. They show us how oppression is justified, how movements for justice are built, and how power is wielded—sometimes for progress, sometimes for control. They remind us that history is not just something that happened—it is something that is happening right now.
Spotlight: The Petersburg Public Library (Alaska)
The Petersburg Public Library The Petersburg Public Library digitizes Historic Petersburg newspapers from 1913 – 2021 to give the local community easier access to Petersburg’s history. The Petersburg Public Library offers free access to its extensive collection of historical newspapers and documents through a partnership with Advantage Archives. The archives encompass over 45,317 pages of the Petersburg Pilot (1974-2021), along […]
