Black Lives Matter and Pandemic Collection

Help us preserve history!

Radford University Libraries are collecting materials to document this historical moment. We are facing two unique opportunities with the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the Black Lives Matter events in our area.

This project seeks to collect material from the Radford University and Radford University Carilion communities, including our alumni and the surrounding area.

We will create an online archive to preserve and provide access to materials received.

Participants are welcome to submit:

  • Photographs
  • Videos
  • Audio Recordings
  • Other relevant digital materials (Word documents, PDFs, etc.)

The library is preserving relevant news stories but the crowdsourced personal materials from Highlanders and our community will be the heart of the collection.

For the Pandemic Collection, these are some ideas: photos of signs in stores or around town, what you did during “stay at home” or quarantine, photos of you making PPE or wearing PPE, writings about your experience. Tell us and/or show us what you did, whether it was baking bread or working on the frontlines in healthcare or as an essential worker stocking shelves. Tell us your story.

For the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Collection, these are some ideas:

  • Photos of crowds
  • People
  • Signs or videos from events
  • Tell us about your experiences being involved locally and being part of the larger movement across the world.

In some cases, you may want the material held for a period of time before it is available to the public. That is fine; in the form, please note how long to wait until it is released to the public.

Content submitted will be added to the Archives and Special Collections at Radford University.

Digital Submission Terms and Conditions

You are being asked to contribute your experiences, photos, video, or other digital content to Radford University’s Libraries, which is creating a digital archive of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest events as it relates to our Highlander Family and our area.

You may only submit material created entirely by you and not copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other material except to the extent that such material is in the public domain or its use is allowed by “Fair Use” as prescribed by the terms of United States copyright law.

You must be 18 years of age or older to submit material. By submitting content through this form, you are granting Radford University Libraries permission to disseminate, preserve, and use that content in connection with its educational and research mission. You retain ownership of and copyright in the material you share.

Radford University Libraries are not obligated to include your content in this project or preserve it in perpetuity. Decisions to decline submissions will be made by library staff, adhering to collection policies and deaccession policies.

This form collects information and contains agreements that will allow your materials to be added to the collection and used by future researchers.

If you have any questions, please email 2020collection@radford.edu