When state power actively works to erase records and marginalized voices, can archivists and historians work to mitigate erasure in real time? Amid rapid, unprecedented shifts in American politics and culture wars over American history, this roundtable brings together an archivist, museum director, and academic historians to discuss strategies for assembling and preserving archives of this moment. Our conversation draws on experience collecting in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement. Topics for discussion include strategies for documenting and collecting material related to current events, potential drawbacks of rapid response collecting, ethical considerations for community engagement, and possibilities for integrating collecting into teaching.

The roundtable will also consider the nature of modern archives, especially in light of the significance of social media in the current US administration’s communication and in activist organizing. Can archives capture the nature and impact of communication on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Truth Social, Bluesky, etc.? How might activist artifacts like posters, graffiti, and murals be collected or documented? Is a balanced archive possible?

Participants bring a broad range of professional expertise and experiences to the conversation. Speakers include a museum director who collected public art and other artifacts from Black Lives Matter protests in Greenboro, NC, academic historians who organized Covid-19 collecting projects in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and an archivist who co-authored a monograph on archival revolutions since 1980. The chair has contributed to site-specific public history projects focused on the US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, and Black labor organizing in New Orleans. Together, we are excited to discuss creating the archives of the future and nurturing collaboration among academics, archivists, and museum professionals.