History and Culture Access Consortium

The HBCU History and Culture Access Consortium (HCAC) is an initiative to digitize, preserve, and make visible the rich historical collections at HBCU archives and museums. This project was launched by The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) and The Smithsonian Office of Strategic Partnerships in March 2021 to as part of The Smithsonian’s commitment to sustainable HBCU cultural institutions and to preserve and interpret African American art, history, culture, and memory. RRCHNM manages the project operations and strategy for the project as well as provides training to HBCU project partners in digitization, metadata creation, digital exhibition, public history oriented writing, and digital humanities training in Omeka S and other digital tools. Currently, we are in the pilot phase of the project working with five HBCUs – Clark Atlanta University Museum (Georgia), The Florida A&M University’s Meek-Eaton Archives and Museum (Florida), Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center (Mississippi), Texas Southern University Museum (Texas), and Tuskegee University Archives (Alabama). The final output for this project includes a digital public history website that highlights collections from these archives and museums that will launch in the Summer of 2025.