The House Archives Built 

The House Archives Built 

This talk focuses on the work of Dorothy Berry, Digital Curator for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dorothy is the author of The House Archives Built and Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities (We Here Press, 2025), which is currently sold out in its third printing since being published in October 2025. Berry discusses family materials offered up to “the altar of higher learning” and struggles for access, accuracy, and locating joy in family photographs stewarded by institutional archives.

Image captions: Left: William Berry, circa 1880, on the porch of the house he built in 1873. [1] Right: Moses Berry, circa 1955, with his grandmother Mamie and brothers Gary and Charles, on the porch his great-grandparents built in 1873. [10]  

Speaker
Dorothy Berry, Digital Curator, National Museum of African American History and Culture

In conversation with
Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Photographer, Writer, and Curator

Organized by
Gregory Pardlo, Professor of Literature and Creative Writing and 19 Washington Square North Faculty Fellow, NYUAD
Montana Ray, Clinical Assistant Professor of Liberal Studies, NYU; 19 Washington Square North Faculty Fellow, NYUAD

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