Resistance Zine
In June 2019, Rare Book School received a $1.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in June 2019, “to support the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage, a six-year program which aims to advance multicultural collections through innovative and inclusive curatorial practice and leadership.” After a rigorous selection process, forty-five fellows were identified to participate in the program.
One of the goals of the fellowship is to raise “awareness within professional communities about the significance of inclusive, multicultural collections, including their promotion, development, and stewardship.” A working group which consisted of fellows from both cohort one and two was formed to work on a project-based outreach effort. The group of cultural heritage workers and archivists including Jina DuVernay, Collection Development Archivist for African American Collections, agreed to create a zine to achieve the objective. The group decided that each fellow would choose an archival collection from their affiliated institutions that reflected some form of resistance. The well-designed and eclectic zine showcases collections that reflect freedom of speech, conservation inequity, and foodways to name a few.
The zine titled, “Resistance: Reflections on Power and Solidarity in BIPOC Archives,” was co-sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage at Rare Book School. Funding requested by the group allowed for each fellow to receive 50 printed copies of the zine to distribute freely. A free, digital copy of the zine is available here and on the Rare Book School website. Participation in the Mellon/Rare Book School fellowship and the zine project has been fully and graciously supported by Rose Library Director, Jennifer King.
Free copies of the zine are available now at the Rose Library.
Click here to register for the March 23rd virtual presentation that will feature collections in the zine. A recording of the presentation will also be available on Rare Book School’s YouTube channel.
-Jina Duvernay