Digital project:Pushing buttons, pushing stories

Memory institutions, such as archives, are responsible for ensuring access and preservation of important documents and other materials from the past for future generations. Often the stories and memories of marginalized communities are not well represented in archives. However, the Jean Augustine collection at the Clara Thomas Arhives and Special Collection at York University is an example of a unique collection which addresses this gap. Augustine, the first black woman elected to Parliament, was an educator and community activist. A selection of her collection of over 500 political buttons and the oral history attached to them are digitally preserved and made available in an online exhibit. The "Pushing Buttons, Pushing Stories" digital archive was created through the collaborative efforts of a research librarian, a digital projects and outreach archivist, a digital assets librarian, and a library technologist. Learn more about the project process, as well as the tools and methods used to create and preserve this digital archive.