As a community archivist, how else can one learn and gain more archival experience? Project Archivist, Stefanie Martin, found out it was by being in and doing archival work for the community!

In August as part of my professional development as Project Archivist at The ArQuives, I attended the Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) in Chicago, Illinois to support the preservation of the audio-visual collection of the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago (FAHSC). CAW is a volunteer-based group sponsored by the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) that supports organizations with a current focus on underrepresented and geographically isolated communities.

Group photo with archivists, librarians, FAHSC board members and community volunteers. Photo credit: Filipino American Historical Society-Chicago

The Filipino American Historical Society ofChicago was founded by community archivist and collector Estrella Alamar in 1986. Alamar was born and raised in Hyde Park, Chicago and was dedicated to preserving her family and community members’ histories. In 1999, she co-founded the FAHSC Museum of Filipino American History with her husband Justo O. Alamar. Unfortunately, the museum was self-funded and closed three years later in 2002.

We processed materials from Estrella Alamar’s collection between 1926 and 1987, including home movies before 1944. The collection also included films, particularly home movies, by Estrella’s uncle Nicholas ‘Nick’ Viernes. Viernes was a Filipino migrant farmer who migrated to Chicago in 1926 and became the “unofficial documentarian of the Filipino immigrant community in Chicago.”

The workshop brought together over 48 archivists and community volunteers from the United States and Canada to inspect and catalogue various audio-visual records such as audio cassette tapes, VHS tapes, 16 mm and 8 mm reels. We learned the technical aspects of the audio-visual records and how to inspect them through on-site demonstrations.

Box of oral history interviews in cassette tapes by Estrella Alamar (left). Inspection of one of the home movie reels by Nick Viernes through a magnifier (right).

One of our major goals was to help FAHSC with the inventory of their collection. The CAW team members worked on a form used by all participants to thoroughly catalogue the records, capturing as much information as possible, particularly regarding the conditions of the materials. Overall, we collectively catalogued 308 items in one day. We ended up with a box filled with tapes and reels with vinegar syndrome and another box of tapes with mould. Vinegar syndrome is the deterioration of film and emits a vinegar smell.

Stefanie holding a VHS tape about the Pinoy Boxing Era. Photo credit: Bernadette Patino (left). Chris, Stefanie and community volunteer holding cassette tapes to be digitized. Photo credit: Bernadette Patino (right.)

As a Filipino community archivist, I am grateful for the opportunity to learn new skills and experiences, particularly with audio-visual materials, while being in community with fellow Filipinos. It felt like a full circle connecting with Filipino archivists as well as other archivists, librarians, students and volunteers from FAHSC who took the time to join us and contribute to doing this critical work.

Similar to why The ArQuives was established, Estrella Alamar knew that they had to document, preserve and protect the histories of Filipinos in Chicago that were not being documented elsewhere at the time.

This workshop also highlighted the importance of community building and collective efforts, not just from practitioners but from anyone who was willing to learn. I look forward to applying my skills and experience to better care for our collections here at The ArQuives and in my Filipino communities!

Thank you to CAW and FAHSC for a memorable archival experience and for bringing together Filipino archivists in North America! Thank you to our team leaders Moriah Ulinskas and Ashley Dequilla and my fellow team members Afsheen Nomai, Bernadette Patino, Felicia Boretzky, Chris Castro, Crystal Rangel, Darlyne Bautista, Kristin MacDonough, Leila Sherbini, Lulu Zilinskas, Natalie Milbrodt, Sara Chapman, and Tom Colley. We are also grateful for the generous space from Video Data Bank, equipment from team members’ libraries/archives and delicious lunch from Ruby’s Fast Food.

If you’d like to learn more about the Community Archiving Workshop and the Filipino American Historical Society-Chicago, click on the links below:

Author bio: Stefanie Martin has been involved at The ArQuives since 2018. She holds a BA in Sociology from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Masters of Information from the University of Toronto. Stefanie was the Archives Assistant in 2018 and later on became a collections volunteer. In 2019, Stefanie was an intern at the Hamilton Public Library where she developed their 2SLGBTQ+ community archives. She has also worked in non-profit and grassroots organizations serving Filipino youth, newcomers, and migrant workers in the Greater Toronto Area and Manitoba. Her research interests include community archives, activism and political record-keeping and migration and labour.