Hello! I am an Archivist at Kennedy Library's Special Collections and Archives. I can help you navigate archives research and primary sources, from Kennedy Library's Special Collections and Archives to around the world and online.
Contact:
Special Collections and Archives
Kennedy Library, Cal Poly
Gaps and Silences in Archives and Special Collections
While archives have been viewed as unbiased repositories of the past in its entirety, they are in fact spaces of gaps and silences. These gaps and silences are due to changing opinions of archivists have considered "of enduring value," and can reflect historical, institutional, and internalized racism, classism, sexism, and ignorance of marginalized genders and sexualities. Biases may also impact the archivist's description. Archives are not neutral.
This guide was originally created to support students in second-year architecture courses researching marginalized and underrepresented communities in the city of San Luis Obispo. We hope it may be of use to others as a starting place for researching community histories, especially marginalized communities, on the Central Coast.
This is a work in progress, if you recommend additional resources to add to this guide, please email us at archives@calpoly.edu.
Some records to consult on:
yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini tribe of indigenous Northern Chumash people
"Times Past" article interviewing Black San Luis Obispo residents about their experiences, by Liz and Dan Krieger, January 19, 1991 SLO Telegram-Tribune [Cal Poly login required]
A segregated U.S.O. for Black soldiers in WWII located first on Palm Street and then on Higuera Street