By Nicole Hayes, FOCAS Intern, Spring & Fall 2025 / University of Arizona
This year’s SAA Conference took place in Anaheim, and although it’s only a day’s drive from Tucson, the relief from the brain-melting summer heat was immediately transformative. It has only been two months since the conference, but admittedly in the present political context it feels like ages ago. One thing that has stayed with me, however, is the affectual impact of the connections. The world of community archives can feel small—the work being done in these spaces often goes overlooked. Despite being deeply vulnerable and seemingly invisible institutions, their impact is often transformative. Burns—Archivist for the Sage Singers Community Storytelling Project and one of the panelists for Sustaining Queer Archival Projects in a Repressive Political Climate—presented on their work in a presentation titled “Singing for our Lives: LGBTQIA2S+ Elders Shaping their Life Stories.” Burns’ work as an oral historian challenges cultural narratives around aging as it relates to value and agency; often as people age and experience cognitive decline they are no longer seen as reliable narrators of their own stories, and their stories are too often seen as unworthy of being told. In contrast, Burns calls on interviewees to be collaborators in the process: creators, rather than passive contributors. As dominant narratives often erase or narrowly frame queer history, our elders’ stories are urgent for the future, but as Burns points out, they are also meaningful to the people to which these lived experiences belong.
This presentation touched me on a deeply personal level, as I have borne witness to an elder with dementia being dismissed as agents of their own life. I have also been on the receiving end of similar treatment as a neurodivergent person, and witnessed the same happen to other neurodivergent folx, as a former case manager for disabled adults. In these instances, lived experience becomes grounds for invalidating personal agency in sharing their own stories. It is these hierarchies that detach us from our humanity. The non-hierarchal approach that community archives and community led archives embody helps fill these gaps and offer opportunities for healing and repair. Community archivists are not only stewards of these historical narratives, but of greater connections as well. As an aspiring archivist who hopes to continue to contribute to this invaluable work, the ripple effect of affect extends beyond these records, and to the effect of belonging. Archive work broadly lacks funding, especially when it comes to the preservation of minoritized communities. As such, archives can be a competitive field. However, I am constantly in awe of the ways that I see archivists and archival scholars make space for newcomers and lift up the work of their colleagues. I have endless gratitude to archivists who have invited me into spaces and conversations, and I hope this is something I can pass along. The records that community archives hold are temporally, contextually, compositionally, and emotionally dynamic—so too is the affect surrounding the work of community archives. As Burns points out, Oral Histories are important to interviewees as they take a part in preserving these historical narratives—understanding how their lived experiences contribute to the bigger picture. This work is not only meaningful to future generations, but to the communities of the present as they experience history happening in real time.
NOTES:
In “Affect and the archive, archives and their affects: an introduction to the special issue,” Cifor and Gilliland reflect on the interdisciplinary exploration of the concept of Affect, the concept of emotional impact, and how affect is present in the field of archives. This concept of affect in archives, particularly in community archives is often explored in critical archival theory.
Cifor, M., & Gilliland, A. (2016). Affect and the archive, archives and their affects: an introduction to the special issue. Archival Science, 16(1), 1-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10502-015-9263-3 Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9qd549z6
Burns, Kate. “Singing for our Lives: LGBTQIA2S+ Elders Shaping their Life Stories”. Panel Discussion presented at Society of American Archivists conference in Anaheim California, August, 27, 2025.
In “Affective Bonds: What Community Archives can teach mainstream institutions,” Caswell explores valuing affect as it relates to archival practices such as outreach and appraisal. Above, I am both referencing these ideas, and suggesting that these practices extend to not only the communities the archivists work with, but to the reciprocal nature of archival practice which may at times extend to relationships with patrons, peers and colleagues.
Caswell M, Bastian JA, Flinn A. Affective bonds: what community archives can teach mainstream institutions. In: Community Archives, Community Spaces: Heritage, Memory and Identity. Facet; 2018:21-40.