Safeguarding Civil Rights History: An Initiative of The Legal Defense Fund
The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Over the decades, LDF accumulated a vast archive of records documenting its critical role in shaping civil rights history. However, these records were fragmented across physical and digital formats, with no cohesive system to ensure their preservation or public accessibility.
The project and the LDF Recollection website has…
Increased public engagement
Improved internal access
Enhanced archival practices
Achieved industry recognition
To address these challenges, they embarked on a project to digitize, secure, and present the LDF archives in a way that balances public engagement with security requirements. The collaboration culminated in the creation of the LDF Recollection website.
LDF’s project underscores the critical role of storytelling in historical preservation. More than just a searchable database, the LDF Recollection site, powered by Preservica and designed, developed, and supported by Durable Digital, is now a platform for LDF to connect with audiences on an emotional level.
“It’s one thing to have a database that people can search. It’s another thing to use them to really put a face and a story to what this case is about. I think that’s the real upshot of the Recollection site. Not just that it’s making all of these records easily accessible. But it’s walking people through history, connecting our past with the present.”
Ashton Wingate, Manager of Digital Archives NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Overcoming Fragmentation: Transforming Scattered Archives into a Scalable, Public-Facing Digital Resource
By 2014, LDF’s archival resources were scattered across disparate locations, with most records stacked high in physical boxes and tracked using outdated systems. With limited staff and resources, digitization was sporadic and access to the archives was ad hoc and internal-only.
To tackle this challenge, LDF needed to manage the complexities of organizing and preserving vast collections of digital materials, which encompassed a wide range of formats and historical contexts. These materials often resided in scattered repositories, making it challenging to ensure consistent access and long-term preservation.
Additionally, LDF needed a solution that could balance the competing priorities of public accessibility and rigorous security. To maximize public engagement and education, the online archives needed an intuitive and engaging interface. This interface also had to seamlessly integrate with behind-the-scenes systems that maintain strict preservation and data protection standards.
Finally, LDF grappled with demonstrating the tangible value of their archives to a broader audience. They sought to position their collections as tools for public education and historical discourse while ensuring that the technical infrastructure behind them could support scalability in an evolving digital landscape.
Ashton Wingate, Manager of Digital Archives at the LDF, played a key role in bringing leadership’s vision to life by creating a public-facing archive aimed at:
Expanding public access
Make civil rights records widely accessible while maintaining security for sensitive information
Improving searchability
Provide a user-friendly interface for navigating a complex repository
Ensuring Digital Preservation
Safeguard historical records with reliable backend solutions
Educating and engaging
Use archival materials to educate the public and drive discourse on civil rights history and contemporary issues
Making this work possible required selecting vendors committed to collaboration, hence the selection of Preservica and Durable Digital.
Read the full case study to learn about LDF’s workflow, the importance of metadata for their project, and how Preservica and Durable Digital worked together to meet project objectives. The Case Study also highlights the project results and what’s next for this amazing resource.
Legal Defense Fund (LDF)
Preservica
