Papers by Jarrett Martin Drake
Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, 2021
This might be the ultimate lesson from archives: that they are concurrently fundamental yet futil... more This might be the ultimate lesson from archives: that they are concurrently fundamental yet futile for liberation, that the archival imperative may not be access but action, and that this action might get bloody, yet no bloodier than it already is.
Paths to Prison: On the Architectures of Carcerality, 2020
Archives and Manuscripts, 2019
Australian and US-based archivists have recently begun to confront their complicity in a document... more Australian and US-based archivists have recently begun to confront their complicity in a documentary landscape that excludes and erases the voices and views of minority, oppressed and poor communities. Archival professional organisations in both countries attempt to confront this issue by focusing on the homogeneity of the profession, specifically through using the discourse of diversity. Thus, this keynote address, delivered at the 2017 conference of the Australian Society of Archivists in Melbourne, explores the following question: how, if at all, does diversity form part of the solution for dismantling the white supremacy of archives? It begins this inquiry by recounting the author's participation and experience with diversity projects of the Society of American Archivists, before speculating how archivists might transition away from the language of diversity and towards the language of liberation through the concept of an archive of the oppressed. The central argument of the address is that dismantling white supremacy in archives requires archivists abandon the neoliberal discourse of diversity and adopt an archive of the oppressed, or a cooperative approach in which oppressed peoples are positioned as subjects in our own liberation.
We are a group of U.S.-based memory workers -an archivist, a public historian, and a scholar of i... more We are a group of U.S.-based memory workers -an archivist, a public historian, and a scholar of information studies (all of whose work significantly overlaps with each of those roles)committed to using traces of the past to shape a more just future. 1 The U.S. is rarely thought of as a post-conflict society and participation in the Mandela Dialogues has been a rare opportunity to place American human rights violations within the context of state-sponsored violence internationally. However, we remain skeptical of the "post-conflict society" framing for the American context. For us, the "post" of "post-conflict" is a luxury that we cannot claim; it is "prematurely celebratory" to use Anne McClintock's apt phrase regarding postcolonialism. 2 Instead, we see the U.S. as a conflict society that, most dangerously, does not acknowledge that such a conflict existed in the past, nor that it exists in the present, with grave consequences.
Archivists have long recognized the inherent historical and social mandate in preserving stories ... more Archivists have long recognized the inherent historical and social mandate in preserving stories of those who endured violence at the hands of the state. Examples of this responsibility include archivists who recorded public tribunals in post-apartheid South Africa, documented stories of Japanese Americans forced into internment camps during World War II, and acquired collections of 1960s civil rights activists who experienced military intervention while fighting to end segregation. These endeavors align with the historian Howard Zinn's call for archivists to " compile a whole new world of documentary material " about the lived experiences of marginalized populations and communities. Drawing upon Zinn's charge as well as scholarly literature around community archives, social justice, and human rights, this article describes the joint effort of community organizers and professional archivists who collaborated to establish a community archive for victims of police violence in Cleveland, Ohio. The archive, A People's Archive of Police Violence in Cleveland, provides a sustainable, autonomous means for Cleveland residents to share their first-hand accounts of police violence in the region. The authors will narrate the archive's conception and development as well as advance the archive as a post-custodial model for other grassroots organizations protesting various forms of state violence.
On February 1, 1812, the New Jersey General Assembly passed a law stating that in order for a sla... more On February 1, 1812, the New Jersey General Assembly passed a law stating that in order for a slave or servant to be permanently removed out of the state, two judges of the Court of Common Pleas had to first obtain the bond person's consent to the removal. Intended to curb the rise of domestic trafficking following the 1808 Congressional ban on the international slave trade, the statute placated New Jersey abolitionists while simultaneously providing slaveholders a loophole for profitable disposal of their property. Jacob Van Wickle, a judge in Middlesex County, exploited that loophole. This paper examines documents found at the New Jersey State Archives to argue that methodical, synchronized record production by county officials engineered an illegal slave-trading cartel spanning from New Jersey to Louisiana. The records presented as evidence— consent certificates and affidavits—bear the appearance of authenticity yet contain muted elements of evidential rehearsal. Describing their collective rhetoric illuminates the dubious condition of their creation, the implications of which suggest that archivists must reevaluate the concept of authenticity during the appraisal process.
Inquiries into allegations of human rights abuses require a reliable corpus of evidence to procee... more Inquiries into allegations of human rights abuses require a reliable corpus of evidence to proceed and hold violators accountable for their actions. The following article analyzes the 2005 police shootings that occurred on New Orleans' Danziger Bridge in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a case that illustrates the challenges confronting investigations into human rights violations in the USA. By examining an investigative police report, two survivors' civil complaints, and federal court filings, the article argues that the methodical nature in which several police officers in post-Katrina New Orleans conspired to document the use of deadly force against several unarmed citizens demonstrates that police records created in the context of officer-involved shootings inhibit accountability processes as much as they facilitate them. The deliberate creation of such records, the article concludes, impairs the ability of a democratic nation to ensure human rights and bring their violators to account.
The following research explores the extent to which American prisons demonstrate accountability t... more The following research explores the extent to which American prisons demonstrate accountability through recordkeeping for instances of inmate segregation. Segregation is a broad prison management tool that correctional facility administrators deploy to maintain safety and order within a prison. But the application of this management tool has consistently raised legal and ethical questions about its constitutionality. The ensuing legal battles often consult various sources of evidence, with records serving as particularly significant due to their perceived neutrality and objectivity. Conducted during the course of a master's thesis, this study investigates two prisons' segregation practices to provide a systematic inquiry into the intersection of recordkeeping and accountability. After surveying the relevant literature, the researcher describes his use of a holistic multiple-case studies design to conduct several on-site, semi-structured interviews at the Indiana State Prison and the Mississippi State Penitentiary. The research seeks to assess the availability, accessibility, and authenticity of segregation records and highlight the factors that impact them. The research contributes to archival and information science conversations on accountability, records management, and the public interest.
Book Reviews by Jarrett Martin Drake
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Papers by Jarrett Martin Drake
Book Reviews by Jarrett Martin Drake