collection of historical documents or records
from Greek arkheion 'government house'
Archives are humanity's memory banks
Archives have been curated by institutions that systematized erasure of women, minorities, and dissident voices. What counts as 'history' reflects archival power structures, not reality.
Use 'archive' neutrally; when citing archives, acknowledge whose stories are missing and actively seek counter-archives and oral histories that fill those gaps.
Women's, LGBTQ+, and indigenous archives often exist outside institutional systems; legitimate these counter-archives as equally valid historical evidence.
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