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Mapping and
Digital Storytelling

Browse archive listings

Browse the list of archives by location or by topic.

EXPLORE LOCATIONS

Browse by keyword:

Historical Achievements, Figures, and Biography [37]Community and Social Life [36]Culture, Heritage and Arts [31]Freedom Seekers and Migration History [30]Oppression, Activism, and Resistance [26]Education [21]Military Service and War Efforts [18]Women and Feminism [18]Educational Resources [16]Politics and Governance [16]Children and Youth [15]Family and Domestic Life [14]Media and Representation [13]Social Conditions and Struggles [13]Sports and Recreation [11]

ABOUT ArchiveBlack

ArchiveBlack is a digital platform that makes Black archives, histories, and cultural memory more visible, accessible, and discoverable. Building on Mapping Ontario’s Black Archives (MOBA), ArchiveBlack connects dispersed archival materials, people, places, and stories while creating new ways to research, interpret, and engage Black history.

Led by Dr. Cheryl Thompson, ArchiveBlack combines archival research, digital mapping, storytelling, and public scholarship to transform how Black histories are found, understood, and shared.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ARCHIVEBLACK

Have a Black archive story to share?

We want to hear from you. Whether it’s a collection, photograph, document, memory, organization, place, or story, get in touch and help us bring Black histories and archival stories to life.

TELL US YOUR STORY

“There is so much potential for rich storytelling with black folk at the centre of it”

Dr. Karen Cyrus

What can I discover in a Black archive?

A Black archive holds traces of everyday life, community, creativity, and memory. You might find photographs, newspapers, letters, posters, recordings, oral histories, organizational records, personal papers, artwork, event programs, and other materials that document Black histories.

Archives use finding aids to help people navigate these collections. A finding aid is a guide to what an archive holds and how those materials have been organized and described. It may tell you who created the materials, what dates and subjects they cover, where they are located, how they can be accessed, and whether restrictions apply.

Finding an archive is only the beginning. ArchiveBlack helps you discover the collections, people, places, and stories within them—and provides new pathways for connecting Black history and cultural memory.

ArchiveBlack has conducted a synthesis of the archival literature and digital collections.

READ ABOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE SYNTHESIS

Telling our Stories

What happens when we look beyond the collection and listen to the stories within the archive?

ArchiveBlack brings together scholars, creative practitioners, archivists, librarians, and community members to explore Black archives through research, conversation, and storytelling. Discover stories about the people, collections, places, and histories that make Black archives meaningful.

ARCHIVEBLACK TURN