My ‘Why’s’ For this Work
I do this work because I want as many people as possible to experience the uniquely powerful connection to my city’s Black past and present that the archives offers.
Megan McShea
Lead Archivist
Connect With Me
What I Do at Work
I have been working with Afro Charities on assessing, digitizing, and processing the AFRO American Newspapers’ Archives since 2021, becoming the full time Lead Archivist in 2024.
My Background
I began my archives career in stock photo and footage research including The Bettmann Archive, a news photo morgue in New York City. After earning my Masters in Library Science at University of Maryland, College Park, I worked on the processing team as Audiovisual Archivist at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. I was a board member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive (MARMIA) from 2019-2023, and co-taught the Community Archives workshop at the University of Baltimore from 2017-2020. I worked on digital preservation with the Human Studies Film Archives at the National Museum of Natural History from 2021-2023. I was also a contract archivist for the Billie Holiday Project for Liberation Arts in 2021, working on site with church archivists in West Baltimore.
Collection Items that Resonate with Me:
From the AFRO Collection:
The caption identifies these beautiful people as the Pulaski Street unit of the Jackie Robinson Youth Council of the NAACP during their 1965 voter registration drive. The NAACP files are full of so many group photographs of people changing the world from their own very specific corner of the world. I am inspired by that kind of organizing. Also, I just love how happy they seem and how relaxed they are with one another. I would love to know if any of the Pulaski Street unit of the Jackie Robinson Youth Council of the NAACP are around now who could tell us more about where that shine was coming from! And also help us organize!
An Object From My Personal Collection
Me at the beach on the Eastern shore, visiting my grandparents and cousins, about 4 years old I think. Clearly my happy place.