Building Continuity: Reflections on the ACASA Archival Project

When the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) was awarded grant funding from the Mellon Foundation in 2022, the primary goal was to hire an arts administrator and project manager to cultivate organizational continuity through streamlined board processes, managerial support, and a centralized physical and digital archive.At first glance, this archival task appeared administrative: Determine who has valuable records, locate them, collect the materials, and decide where the physical archive will be. Yet as the work unfolded, it became clear that archiving ACASA was not simply an act of preservation. It was a process shaped by relationships, judgment, and care, one that raised fundamental questions about institutional memory, continuity, and the conditions under which ACASA’s histories are sustained.ACASA’s history is deeply intertwined with the history of the African Studies Association (ASA). Before becoming an independent organization in 1982, ACASA functioned as a subgroup within ASA, echoing shared commitments to the study of Africa and its Diaspora and serving as an arts-focused group of like-minded scholars. Today, ACASA is an affiliate organization of ASA, with many members participating in both organizations. Documents related to ACASA’s earliest years remain integrated within ASA’s institutional records.Despite ACASA’s long-standing role in African art history, the organization has not maintained a centralized archive. It was quickly discovered that all ACASA records were disseminated across continents, coinciding with past presidents’ home institutions and previous Triennial host cities. Beyond the vast differingphysical locations, these documents were found in personal filing cabinets, moving boxes stored in offices and home garages, flash drives passed between board members, online drives accessed by single members, and in the memories of those who had long sustained the organization. These findings reaffirmed the need for a centralized archive, documenting the long-term system of rotating leadership of volunteers with an uncentralized document-sharing system.While the need for a centralized archive project has long been known by ACASA boards and membership, recent grant funding has allowed the resources to ensure this project. Between 2022 and 2025, ACASA acquired many physical print materials and other documents from organization members, former board leaders, and longtime ACASA contributors, spanning the organization’s history from 1982 to the present. These materials are now housed at Northwestern University’s Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies. In conjunction, ACASA has developed a digital archive, scheduled for member access in early 2026 and accessible through the ACASA membership portal.1 Together, these endeavors represent ACASA’s commitment to institutional memory while also foregrounding the labor, decisions, and responsibilities that make archives possible.The process of building the ACASA archive made visible the fragility of institutional memory in organizations that depend on rotating volunteer leadership and limited administrative infrastructure. For decades, ACASA’s continuity was carried by individuals whose engagement with the field often extended well beyond formal roles. These ACASA records were saved because a member believed they mattered, not because it was required. As a result, documentation accumulated unevenly.This condition is not unique to ACASA, but it does have its consequences. When records remain scattered, they are subject to loss of documentation due to member retirement, relocation, changes in technology, or simple attrition. Establishing an archive was, in part, a response to these issues. At the same time, the process revealed that institutional records rarely arrive in complete or orderly form. Some periods of ACASA’s history are richly documented, while others are scarcely represented. It is important to remember that this archive does not present a seamless history of institutional continuity. Instead, it offers a partial record shaped by what could be gathered within a limited timeframe and through specific relationships. Recognizing this unevenness is essential as an archive does not simply record history; it actively shapes how that history can be told.One of the most significant aspects of the ACASA archival project was the time required to acquire materials. Building the archive meant reaching out to members and former board leaders across generations, institutions, and geographies. Each request involved conversations of questions of ownership, emotional attachment, trust, and authority.Materials arrived in many forms, including carefully organized digital folders and physical boxes filled with correspondence, planning documents, and administrative records accumulated over long periods of time. These boxes contained copies of personal notes, spanning annotated drafts, provisional schedules, internal emails printed and saved, and documents that revealed the work behind ACASA’s public-facing activities.This process also accentuated that archives are never evenly distributed. Documentation from long-serving leaders, especially presidents and Triennial hosts or chairs, tended to be more extensive. At the same time, records documenting newer board positions, like Social Media Editor and Website Editor, were harder to locate. By addressing these dynamics, the ACASA archival project challenges the notion of archives as neutral repositories, instead highlighting how relationships and circumstances shape them.The ACASA archive has taken shape through the generosity and trust of members and institutions who have shared their personal records of ACASA over time. What now comprises the archive reflects not only formal governance but the everyday work of sustaining ACASA: triennial planning files, correspondence, meeting notes, printed programs, budgets, proposals, and internal documents that chart the organization’s volunteer labor across decades.Several contributors were especially instrumental in making this work possible. Erica P. Jones, in coordination with the Fowler Museum at UCLA, shared multiple boxes of materials documenting ACASA’s 2011 Triennial and accompanying activities, as well as previous board leadership documents and newsletters. Amanda M. Maples and the New Orleans Museum of Art provided planning records and documentation connected to the 1998 Triennial in New Orleans, Louisiana. These documents also included ample Board and Triennial documentation, as well as personal notes from William Fagaly. Robin Poynor contributed materials that helped anchor key moments in ACASA’s organizational history, including the 14th Triennial at the University of Florida in 2007. Philip Peek sent numerous boxes of records containing correspondence, committee files, conference planning materials, and newsletters, all central to understanding how ACASA functioned over time.Kevin Dumouchelle and Shannen Hill shared access to digital drives with endless material on triennial planning, member correspondence, and board leadership. Dumouchelle’s contribution shared detailed notes and processes from planning the 16th Triennial at the Brooklyn Museum in 2014. Hill’s intricate and detailed drive, shared amongst board members from 2012-2018, included detailed accounts of the early planning phases through the final execution of the 2017 Triennial in Ghana. These documents have proven insurmountable in understanding the interworkings of Triennial planning and member communications.These contributions arrived in both analog and digital formats. Some were shared as digital folders, while others came as unsorted print materials that required extensive review and organization. The simultaneous presence of both print and digital records in the ACASA archive reflects the evolution of institutional record-keeping. Together, these materials reveal how responsibilities circulated, how decisions were made, and how the organization adapted to shifting professional and technological conditions.The most complete record preserved in the ACASA archive are the quarterly newsletters, which continue to serve as a primary mode of communication with the organization’s membership. The physical archive includes all mailed copies of these newsletters from 1982, documenting changes in leadership, initiatives, mission, and programming, as well as additional information pertinent to ACASA membership. These materials function not only as administrative records but as cultural artifacts of professional life within African art history.In many cases, multiple copies of the same newsletter were preserved across different personal collections. As part of the archival process, only one copy of each issue was retained. This copy was designated based on the copy’s physical condition, specifically water damage, wrinkled or missing covers, folded, torn, or missing pages, and binding condition.The digital archive will include digitized versions of these mailed newsletters alongside the digital editions circulated once ACASA transitioned to email delivery. Any sensitive information, including personal details such as phone numbers or addresses, has been redacted from the digital version. Bringing these materials together across formats provides a complete view of how ACASA’s communications have evolved in response to technological advancements and changes in member preferences. By preserving both print and digital versions, the ACASA archive allows continuity in institutional record-keeping while acknowledging the layered histories embedded in everyday correspondence.The decision to house the ACASA archive at Northwestern University’s Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies was both practical and symbolic. ASA’s physical archive is housed at the Herskovits Library. By housing ACASA’s archive at the Herskovits Library, ACASA archival materials from 1982 will remain in physical proximity, enabling continuity across both organizational histories. Researchers can follow the development of ACASA in relation to ASA rather than encountering these histories as isolated narratives, while also accessing its archival history as a whole.ACASA owes special thanks and gratitude to Esmeralda M. Kalé, George & Mary LeCron Foster Curator of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies. Kalé has been instrumental in coordinating and establishing the archive, guiding the deposit process, and ensuring that ACASA’s records received professional stewardship. Her expertise and institutional knowledge were critical in shaping how the archive took form and how members will access it in the future.At the same time, locating the archive within a US-based research institution raises broader questions about the geographies of ACASA’s membership. It is crucial to acknowledge these circumstances, as they are fundamental to engaging critically with the archive and the institutional structures that support it.In conjunction with the physical archive, ACASA has compiled a digital archive scheduled for publication in early 2026. The digital archive includes digital scans of all physical archival material, chronoized by Board and Triennial. Beyond the digital scans, all digital materials created in more recent years will also be accessible. It is important to note that all sensitive information, including personally identifiable information such as phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses, will be redacted.The digital archive will live within the ACASA membership portal, accessible only to active ACASA members. By situating the archive within the ACASA membership portal, the organization establishes it as a collective asset tied to participation and responsibility. Non-ACASA members will always have access to the physical archive at Northwestern University by appointment.Digital archives, often perceived as inherently democratizing, remain moderated by infrastructure, membership, and technological resources. Decisions about what to digitize, material descriptions, and who can access them shape how members will utilize the archive. Publishing materials online is not an endpoint, but the beginning of an ongoing commitment to maintenance, care, and stewardship.The digital archive also translates the limitations of the physical archive into new forms. Not all materials can be digitized at once, and choices about prioritization inevitably shape the narratives users encounter. These decisions, similar to those involved in building the archive itself, are shaped by labor, resources, and institutional priorities.Beyond supporting historical research, this archive is a resource for teaching, organizational accountability, and critical reflection on how ACASA’s history is remembered. At the same time, the archive remains incomplete. Despite the breadth of materials now preserved, significant gaps persist. In particular, Triennial programs and planning materials from 1982-2000 and documentation related to ACASA programming beyond the Triennial itself remain unevenly represented. These absences are not unusual in institutional archives shaped by rotating leadership and volunteer labor, but they nonetheless shape how ACASA’s history can be accessed and interpreted.For this reason, the ACASA archive must be considered a living and collective project rather than a finished record. Its future depends on continued participation from ACASA members who have helped sustain the organization over time. Readers who have ACASA-related materials—whether programs, correspondence, planning files, administrative documents, or other records they believe would enhance the archive—are warmly encouraged to contribute.ACASA members interested in contributing to the archive, whether physical or digital, are invited to contact Caroline Bastian, ACASA Project Manager and Arts Administrator, at bastian@acasaonline.org. By expanding the archive together, ACASA affirms institutional memory as a shared responsibility, one that depends not only on preservation but on ongoing acts of collaboration and stewardship.