Community champion dindria barrow and the collective power of storytelling

Jamika and Katy are back in the host chairs, excited to learn from dindria of the Tacoma Public Library’s Community Archives Center.

From left to right, Jamika, dindria, and Katy in the recording studio

dindria and the Tacoma Public Library team are collecting stories and oral histories through the Community Archives Center. From the website:

For more than fifty years, scholars and archivists have illuminated a significant problem with the American historical record: missing from it are the experiences of our marginalized and underrepresented communities. Their histories have not just been excluded from the historical record – they have been actively suppressed. In response, archives are being formed around the core values of social justice. There remains an urgent need to preserve and make accessible the histories of communities that are missing from archives and to reshape the historical record.

The Tacoma Community Archives Center was established to begin addressing the gaps and silences existing in the local history record through a community-driven, participatory process. In August 2021, the project was awarded a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Over the next two years, the Tacoma Public Library will partner with the community on digitization, oral history, and storytelling projects aimed at moving our city toward a more inclusive historical record.

dindria, Jamika, and Katy discussed the exciting, upcoming Hilltop Story Fest, happening Saturday, May 6, 2023, 11 am – 3 pm at the Tacoma Community House.

Here’s what you have to look forward to at Hilltop Story Fest:

• Share your story and add to the Community Archives Center digital archive:record a short oral history (any language welcome!) about your life in Tacoma.
• Bring a special family photograph, document, or recipe that helps tell your story and have it scanned at our Digitization Station.
• View highlights from the Northwest Room’s local history collections related to the area.
• Participate in a gallery walk answering questions about Hilltop on paper.
• Engage in a virtual story map.
• Enjoy stories from local artists.
• Kids of all ages are invited to create their own comic book.

Shout outs and topics include: dindria barrow, community storytelling, Hilltop Story Fest, Tacoma Community Archives Center, poetry, spoken word, stand-up comedy, Hilltop neighborhood, Eastside neighborhood, South End neighborhood, Salishan neighborhood, Hilltop Artists, First Creek Middle School, Tacoma Public Library, Institute for Museum and Library Services, Kenya Adams, Tacoma Colored Women’s Club, Dr. Nettie J. Ashberry, Helen Stafford, City of Tacoma’s Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality, Hilltop History Plaques, lore, myth, nostalgia, resiliency, truth-telling, Boss Mama’s Kitchen, Grit City, Since I Been Down, Dr. Gilda Sheppard, cross-age learning, mentorship, teaching, middle-schoolers, kleenex, youth voice, journaling, anxiety, Mt. Tahoma High School, Stadium High School, The Cave at PLU, 24-hour coffee shops, Alma, Parable

Special shout-out to the lovely artwork memorializing producer Doug’s dog (that distracted us in the studio)!