Graduate student Lauretta King began her journey at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in spring 2022 by securing a job in the Black Programs office as an administrative assistant. Unbeknownst to King, this position would lead her to discover and archive decades of historical documents that preserve the history of NMSU’s Black Programs.
"Being part of this collection is a high point in my life. I’ve learned so much and to be able to share that; it’s an important element to all of this," she said. "This is a Black Programs project but it’s also everyone’s project. I think historical preservation is one of the most important things that we can do to understand how we got to where we are."
When King started her role, the Black Programs office was relocating from Garcia Center to new spaces at Corbett Center Student Union. During this process, she discovered several file cabinets, desk drawers, and boxes filled with papers dating back to the 1960s.
"There was a big gap, but it brought us all the way up to 2022," she said. "I found out that those papers should’ve been moved out to be filed away decades ago. I requested consideration to archive Black Programs documents because I felt they held historical significance as a record of the existence and evolution of the African American community at NMSU."
King received approval from Greg Armfield, department head of Communication Studies, and Teresa Maria “Linda” Scholz, NMSU vice president of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity. With their support, she began relocating these documents for preservation during fall 2022 with assistance from Dennis Daily, department head of Archives and Special Collections.
"This has been amazing. I knew it was going to take some time, but the help, the support, the belief in the program and the project that I got from the Archives and Special Collections department has just been astounding," King said.
She learned about professional archiving methods through self-study and hands-on experience while preserving over 50 years of history.
"I got an archiving 101 book that helped me know the right way to archive... It’s not for the faint of heart," King added.
The project also provided King with a personal connection as she revisited periods from her own past while working on these archives.
"I’ve always said if you find something you love, it’s not work when you’re doing it... Navigating through newly changed laws and everything else that was going on. It was quite an adventure," she noted.
King highlighted significant documentation detailing when Black Programs began at NMSU in the 1960s amid societal changes affecting African Americans entering higher education environments.
"Finding their expectations for what they wanted for Black people who were coming out of their communities into a brand-new environment... teaching them how to assimilate into a society that wasn’t their own," she explained.
The archived documents reveal responses by NMSU's administration regarding budget shifts, external influences, events planning, recruitment efforts, retention strategies, legal changes at federal and state levels affecting racial dynamics on campus.
"It was totally foreign... You can change a law but you can’t change a heart," she reflected on early challenges faced by Black students integrating into university life during those times.
During her archival work spanning multiple decades stored within NMSU's history bookshelves since 2003 house cleaning lost about twenty years' worth until rediscovered recently underlining importance safeguarding future generations’ access invaluable records like these showcasing supportive relationships between Las Cruces community & university-backed initiatives promoting diversity inclusion across campus grounds today!
"They would help with projects they wanted experience involvement donations ensuring things stayed track symbiotic relationship outside community students bringing up-to-date voices heard actions limited figuring done heard."
King emphasized goal documenting aiding future research supporting development social academic competence among current faculty staff members within institution further strengthening bonds established long ago pioneers paving way success present-day scholars attending classes halls alike!
"To have something tangible put your hands understanding part process brought where are ahead time never chance talk discounted bringing table now looking things find internet sometimes dirty paper."
