Notes from the Black Feminist Archive archivist and the first cohort of BFA graduate student assistants
By Taelore Marsh, archivist for the Irma McClaurin Black Feminist Archive
This past year has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my journey as an archivist. As the archivist for the Irma McClaurin Black Feminist Archive (BFA), I had the honor for the first time of teaching graduate students the fundamentals of archival practice: guiding them as they processed collections, built finding aids, and grappled with the responsibility of preserving Black women’s legacies. What made this experience so meaningful was not just what I had the chance to impart, but what I received in return. We worked alongside one another in a mutual exchange of knowledge, care, and creativity. My student assistants’ fresh perspectives, curiosity, and willingness to experiment remind me that archival work is as much about discovery as it is about preservation.
What I cherish most is how our work together reflects the joy, hope, aspirations, and vulnerability that live within the Black experience—dimensions too often absent from the way Black life is archived and remembered. Too frequently, archival collections frame Black existence primarily through the lens of systemic racism and structural violence. At the Black Feminist Archive, we expand that frame. In this space, my students and I encounter narratives that celebrate love, creativity, sisterhood, and survival—proof that Black feminism is not only about resistance, but also about possibility. Teaching and learning in this environment were more than a professional milestone; we participated in a shared act of care and visioning that allowed us to honor the fullness of Black life.
Image above: L to R: Irma McClaurin MFA ’76, MA ’89, PhD ’93; Taelore Marsh
