April 2026 When I first started researching, I had never heard of Estelle’s, nor had I heard of the Boston Chronicle. In the very first week, it felt like jumping into the deep end of the pool with only a faint understanding of swimming. Fortunately, I did have floaties to help keep my head above
Read More from Report on the Research Process: Warya Duarte Mazuze
April 2026 When I first started researching, I had very little knowledge of Estelle’s or the Boston Guardian, and the process initially felt quite overwhelming. Working with large digital archives such as the Digital Commonwealth was unfamiliar to me, and it quickly became clear that I would not be able to rely on simple keyword
Read More from Report on the Research Process: Talia Kazerooni
June 2026 I began working with Reckonings at the start of my freshman year at Northeastern University as a Project Assistant in Fall 2024. I grew up in Boston and graduated high school in the Dorchester neighborhood, but I never felt truly knowledgeable about Boston’s history until I started this work. From the underrepresented jazz
Reflection as a London Humanities in Action Scholar in the Reckonings Project I didn’t know much about Boston’s jazz history before starting on the Reckonings Project, so the first few weeks were slow. I’m a freshman BSc Business with Economics student at Northeastern University London, and having grown up across Italy, Portugal, and the UK,
I have learned a lot from being involved in the Reckonings project and specifically from doing thorough research on Melnea Cass, Elma Lewis, and Ruth Batson. These powerful women had such a profound influence on Boston’s culture and history, yet I knew nothing about them prior to this research, which is an indication of how
My name is Holly Lyczak and I am a first-year student majoring in International Affairs and Spanish on the pre-law track at Northeastern University in Boston. I started my position as a Project Assistant at the Reckonings Project in the beginning of January 2025. My work has ranged from researching various events and people related
Spring 2025 I am Tiffany Cruz, a first year PhD student in the English department at Northeastern University. I focus on people of color in 18th and 19th British literature and contemporary texts that adapt classic works, examining the enduring interest in historical novels, and the significance of centering people of color within these narratives.
Just a few weeks after I started working with the Reckonings Project as a research assistant, I got to be a part of the team representing Reckonings at the Jazz Square Celebration that happened on September 27 and 28, 2024. Those two days of celebration were dedicated to the legacy and influence of jazz on
In recent years, community archiving workshop tutorials have gained popularity as institutions and universities, and community members work to demystify archiving for the public. Designing a community archiving workshop is a learning process marked by trial and error. A community archiving workshop is an education tutorial on the best practices to keep, store, and preserve
Read More from Changing the Design: A Proactive Approach to Community Archiving
I’m Shavaun, a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. I feel so fortunate to be a part of the Reckonings Project. It aligns with one of my research interests – recovering lost Black narratives, experiences, and histories through the sociological lens although my work is, increasingly, becoming transdisciplinary. This is a taste
This summer I have had the pleasure of working on the Reckonings Project which is a local history platform for the community-archivist. The main goals of the project were highly attractive as it seeks to empower community archivists through digital scholarship, civic engagement, and community-library-university partnerships. In particular, the focus on the documentation and commemoration
Read More from Development Log: Victoria Dey & Titilayo Odedele
Over the past year, the Reckonings project has connected Northeastern students and faculty with community partners to reflect upon, and co-create, historical narratives that center Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. I started working on the Reckonings project during the summer of 2021, and since then, I have participated in many productive developments
Read More from Development Log: Adam Tomasi & Savita Maharaj
“Reckonings: A Local History Platform for the Community-Archivist” The Mellon Foundation has awarded a $500,000 planning grant to Northeastern University for Reckonings, an innovative program of collaboration to empower BIPOC communities and citizens in the preservation, creation, and curation of community histories. This effort sees reckoning with the historical record and making it more accurate
Read More from Press Release for Northeastern University Planning Grant