My research primarily explores the photographic history of the nineteenth-century American West frontier in unpublished archival sources. In particular, I focus on issues of White supremacy, racism, and colonialism in photographs of Indigenous communities that were taken by White photographers employed by the federal government in the Pacific Northwest. I also work on projects that explore the intersection of social justice, radical empathy, and archival practice. Recent published works and works in progress on these topics include a case study for how archives can support socially engaged art, modeled on CU Boulder's Los Seis de Boulder Sculpture Project; a co-authored training module (book-length manuscript) for archivists who wish to re-examine privacy and access issues in archives, in order to better serve under-represented communities; and a case study on how archival practice has occluded historical scholarship and public understanding of the cultural history of individuals living with Down Syndrome.
keywords
archives management, photographic history of the American west, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x history in Colorado, diversity equity and inclusiveness in archives, social justice in archives, disability in archives, Down Syndrome, privacy and confidentiality in archives
