About the OMA

• Overview
• Contact Information and Location
• OMA Publications
• Internship Opportunities

Overview

In 2005, the Oregon State University Libraries (OSUL) established the Oregon Multicultural Archives (OMA) to highlight multicultural collections already held in the OSUL Archives, to serve as a digital resource linking researchers to other institutions or organizations with multicultural archival collections, and to build an archive with records that document African American, Asian American, Latino/a and Native American communities to reflect how they have contributed to the identity of the state of Oregon.

The mission of the OMA is to assist in preserving the histories and sharing the stories that document Oregon's African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and Native American communities.

The Oregon Multicultural Archives advances scholarship in ethnic studies and racial diversity both on the Oregon State University campus as well as on a state and regional level. The OMA helps to strengthensthe university’s core value of diversity, which enhances OSU's "teaching, scholarship, and service as well as our ability to welcome, respect, and interact with other people" (OSU Strategic Plan).

Be sure to visit the OMA Blog for up-to-date information regarding current projects, new collections, recently digitized materials, and much more!

Contact Information and Location

Natalia Fernández
Oregon Multicultural Archivist
(541) 737–3653
natalia.fernandez@oregonstate.edu

Mailing and Shipping Address

Oregon Multicultural Archives
121 Valley Library
Corvallis, OR 97331–4501

The OMA is located in Corvallis, Oregon, and is a part of the Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Researcher Center (SCARC). The physical collections are housed in SCARC and are open to the public; however, they are intellectually separate from other SCARC collections and can be accessed through this website.

OMA Publications

• "Collaborations Between Multicultural Educators and Archivists: Engaging Students with Multicultural History Through Archival Research Projects" ~ When multicultural educators and archivists collaborate to design projects that engage students with multicultural history through archival research, students can learn in-depth research skills with primary source documents, creatively share their knowledge, and, on a broader level, engage with their local community history. The projects shared in this article serve as examples of how partnerships between multicultural educators and archivists can occur, the types of projects that can be developed and how they are implemented, and students' responses to their work. The three student projects, including a display, a history guidebook, and an oral history project, are intended to offer a variety of ideas to inspire multicultural educators to reach out to their local archivists to develop archival research projects of their own. And, to promote effective and fruitful partnerships, also included are lessons learned as well as tips for successful collaborations between multicultural educators and archivists.
• "Archives and the Arts: Showcasing the Histories of Communities of Color" ~ With an Oregon State University 2015 Individual Learning Innovation Grant, the OMA worked with several students to create two iBooks featuring the Obo Addy Legacy Project and Milagro archival collections. The Milagro theatre and Obo Addy Legacy Project are two Portland based performing arts groups – a Latino based theatre and Ghanaian music and dance group. The article discusses the iBooks projects, lessons learned, and future plans. It also covers the overall process of building relationships with both groups, making the archival collections accessible, and curating a physical exhibit.
• "Collaborations between Tribal and Nontribal Organizations: Suggested Best Practices for Sharing Expertise, Cultural Resources, and Knowledge" ~ Collaborations between tribal and nontribal organizations bring diverse communities together, often for the first time, to educate and learn, to address misinterpretations of the past, and to share cultural resources and knowledge. By examining data obtained through a nationally distributed survey, this research explores how successful partnerships between tribal and nontribal institutions are initiated, developed, and maintained; examines the degree to which the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials were used in the development of policies, procedures, and memorandums of understanding; and reveals the “lessons learned” across a wide range of collaborative projects and partnerships. This overview of collaborative models is intended to offer best practices for both tribal and nontribal organizations interested in sharing useful skills, knowledge, and resources through partnerships.
• "Developing and Organizing an Archival Education Training Opportunity for Oregon’s Tribal Communities: The Oregon Tribal Archives Institute" ~ In 2012 Oregon State University hosted the Oregon Tribal Archives Institute (OTAI), a week long archival education training opportunity specifically designed for Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes. This article describes the OTAI project development, organization, and implementation. The authors offer various lessons learned that can be applied by others who wish to offer a similar archival education institute.
• "Booxter and LibraryThing: Making cultural resource centers library collections visible and accessible" ~ This article describes a library project with Oregon State University's Cultural Resource Centers' library collections.
• "Developing and Organizing an Archival Education Training Opportunity for Oregon’s Tribal Communities: The Oregon Tribal Archives Institute" ~ In 2012 Oregon State University hosted the Oregon Tribal Archives Institute (OTAI), a week long archival education training opportunity specifically designed for Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes. This article describes the OTAI project development, organization, and implementation. The authors offer various lessons learned that can be applied by others who wish to offer a similar archival education institute.
• "Beyond a Box of Documents: The Collaborative Partnership Behind the Oregon Chinese Disinterment Documents Collection" ~ This article is a case study of a collaboration between the OMA, Portland State University Library's Special Collections, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), and the Northwest News Network to preserve and make accessible a recovered box of Oregon Chinese disinterment documents. By examining what influenced and engaged each partner, this case study offers an opportunity to better understand the motivations of diverse stakeholders in a “postcustodial era” project that challenges traditional practices of custody, control, and access.
• "Women of the Oregon Multicultural Archives" ~ In honor of the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Oregon, the Oregon Historical Quarterly published a special issue regarding Women and Citizenship in Oregon in Fall 2012. The OMA is included in this issue with an article which discusses the herstories and collections of Annabelle Jaramillo, Jean Moule, and the women of the Urban League of Portland.
• "Documenting Oregon's Latino Heritage: The Braceros in Oregon Photograph Collection" ~ In Fall 2012, the Oregon Library Association Quarterly published an issue highlighting a number of Oregon's cultural history and the archives that preserve that history and make it accessible; the OMA article briefly covers the history of the Bracero Program and highlights the Braceros in Oregon Photogtraph Colleciton.
• "The Oregon Tribal Archives Institute Becomes a Network" ~ A brief article regarding the Oregon Tribal Archives Institute (TAI) published in the The Northwest Archivists Newsletter Easy Access in November 2012 (pages 8 and 25). Check out the TAI website for more informaiton about the project which was dedicated to assisting Oregon's nine federally recognized tribes with their archives and records management needs.
• "The Desegregation of Men's Basketball at Oregon State University: In Their Own Words" The story of organizing the event "Glory Road and the Desegregation of College Basketball: the Untold Story at Oregon State University" a panel presentation hosted in the Spring of 2011. The article was published in the The Northwest Archivists Newsletter Easy Access in October 2011 (page 5).

Internship Opportunities

All internships are completed through OSU's Special Collections and Archives Research Center Internship Program. Internships may be used for course credit.

Create Your Own

Feel free to contact the OMA Archivist with ideas for potential projects. Internships may include: community outreach, exhibit preparation, collections organization and description, digital projects, historical research, or preservation work.

Past Internships

Obo Addy Legacy Project collection - The intern will create an inventory of the materials and arrange and describe the collection physically and through a Finding Aid. The collection includes a substantial amount of audio/visual materials, and the intern will be tasked to research the best preservation and migration options for the items. The intern will also make recommendations regarding exhibit ideas for a planned Spring 2014 exhibition.
Obo Addy Legacy Project collection internship, Summer and Fall 2013

Miracle Theatre Group collection ~ During the Winter and Spring Terms of 2013, the intern completed an inventory of the Miracle Theatre Group’s records; the Miracle Theatre is a Latino/a community based theatre in Portland. The intern attended the Northwest Archivists 2013 Conference in Vancouver, B.C. in May and presented on the project as part of a Theatre Archives roundtable discussion. For more information, see the intern’s blog posts about the project: Miracle Theatre Group
Intern 1 Winter-Spring 2013 and Intern 2 Summer 2013-Spring 2014

St. Philip the Deacon Episcopal Church records ~ In the Spring of 2012 an intern began working with the St. Philip the Deacon Church community to organize and describe its records. The St. Philip the Deacon Church located in Portland, OR, was established in 1911 by Caribbean immigrants of African descent who experienced hostility from the local churches. The congregation grew and became actively involved in assisting the local community especially through civil rights work and education programming. The project included the intern assisting in the planning and implementation of “Parish History Day” – a community outreach event in which we invited the congregation to learn about archiving and preserving personal and family history materials. For more information, see the intern’s blog posts about the project:
St. Philip the Deacon internship, Spring 2012