Jasmine Clarke

Processing Fellow

Connect With Me

My ‘Why’s’ For this Work

I do this work to empower Black people to be active participants in the remembrance of our personal and collective stories, and histories.

What I Do at Work

I am a Processing Fellow at Afro Charities, where I assist in preparing the AFRO-American Newspaper’s archival collection for public access.

My Background

I am an artist, educator and archivist from Boston, MA. My passion for archiving was ignited when I embarked on a personal journey to honor my grandmother, curating and preserving a collection of family images, videos, documents, and oral histories. My dedication to safeguarding the narratives of Black individuals shines through her work, emphasizing the importance of storytelling from the genuine perspective of the community.

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Driven by a profound belief in empowerment, I am committed to ensuring Black voices actively contribute to the remembrance of both personal and collective stories. Through Afro Charities, I channel this dedication by preserving and preparing these stories to be accessible to the community in innovative ways.

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I am a graduate of Wheaton College MA, where she studied art history and education, and a Fulbright ETA India alumna.

Collection Items that Resonate with Me:

I came across these images while processing the Blackwell Family Reunion materials. Thelma Doswell pictured in the top right image documented her family's roots back to Africa, and has added over 3,300 members to her family tree. As a family archivist, with an interest in genealogy I was both impressed and inspired by her commitment to family history, and lineage.

An Object From My Personal Collection

This is a photograph of me and my maternal grandmother in Boston, MA 1994. She is the reason I started archiving, so it’s an image I return to to remind me why I do this work, and that I am being guided through it.