Services

Melissa provides consulting services to archives, libraries, universities, archival associations, and cultural institutions. The topics covered include Black archival practice; Reparative Description; Cultural Humility; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging; and Confronting Anti-Black Racism. Melissa works with leaders who are committed to addressing practices for organizational change.

FEATURED CLIENTS

  • Schlesinger Library, Harvard University

  • Library and Archives Canada

  • ARMA International

  • Association of Canadian Archivists

  • Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

TRAINING

Challenging traditional thinking is vital to building an inclusive discipline. Melissa offers training that employs anti-oppressive frameworks and an ethics of care. She provides expertise on the ethical stewardship of Black cultural heritage and anti-Black archival materials. These trainings can be tailored to your institution’s unique needs and culture. Melissa addresses practices that have often excluded, invisibilized, and objectified Black users and subjects. These trainings connect your institution to real-world scenarios that can be incorporated into your own practices.

TOWARD COMMUNITY-CENTERED REFERENCE

  • This workshop considers the challenges Black researchers face when consulting with reference services in archives. Participants will learn to think critically about their positionality and their current approaches to providing access. Practical suggestions will be offered to reference archivists to help them provide community-centered services. This workshop includes small group activities and discussions with time for reflection. 

    In this workshop, participants will:

    • Learn how to unpack how white supremacy shows up in archives

    • Learn how to identify and address oppressive practices in access and reference 

    • Learn how to minimize harm when providing reference services 

    Reviews:

    • “Thank you so much for making today’s workshop available…It’s exactly the type of programming I want to see for our professional associations and I’m grateful that I was able to attend.”

    • “The workshop was thought-provoking and informative. It was extremely relevant to our work, and encouraged us to recognize and address our positionality and to carry that through our work. I think the workshop is an excellent experience that all reference staff should participate in.”

    • “I appreciated the time and care that went into setting up a shared understanding of language, intention and expectations during the first half of the session. It is also nice to have time to reflect individually before joining a group to discuss things further. The meditation and music were also a welcomed addition to things.”

    • “It was really helpful to have reflections grounded in real-life archival scenarios and the lived experiences of Black Canadian researchers to push me to rethink how I work as an archivist.”

    The workshop was developed for the Archives Association of Ontario.

DESCRIPTION AND ACCESS FOR ANTI-BLACK ARCHIVAL MATERIALS

  • This workshop addresses anti-Black racism in archival records by providing participants with strategies to create inclusive descriptions and provide access to these materials while minimizing harm. Participants are asked to think critically about the impact of descriptive and access practices for racist archival records. The workshop includes an interactive activity with space for discussion and reflection.

    In this workshop, participants will:

    • Learn how to apply anti-racist frameworks to descriptive practices

    • Understand how to minimize harm while facilitating access to racist archival records

    • Learn how to think critically about the impact of archival practices on the discoverability of racist archival records

    Reviews:

    • “Just wanted to send a note to gush about the Description and Access for Anti-Black Archival Material workshop. It was a terrific workshop, one of the best I’ve participated in a while!

    • “Thank you for offering this workshop! It can get so tiresome talking about how we need to change when nobody suggests exactly how we should be changing. This workshop gave some excellent practical suggestions which I very much appreciate.”

    • “The breakout activity was exceptional. Even though there were some technical difficulties at the outset, it was well worth the wait.”

    • “The workshop was so informative and valuable and I can’t thank Melissa enough for her work and sharing her expertise. I’ve already told many colleagues about it and it’s given me lots to think about in my daily work and I appreciate all the further readings, which I will be reading! Thanks!”

    The workshop was developed for the Association of Canadian Archivists.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Archives are shifting and evolving to become more community-centred. Melissa helps institutions explore this potential by developing tailored hands-on workshops for Black communities. Her approach is to cultivate caring and safer spaces for joy and healing. She works to repair our relationship with the archives, the past, and ultimately ourselves. As we reconnect with our past, we reaffirm our identities, and the presence of our ancestors.

FREEDOM DREAMERS

  • FREEDOM DREAMERS explores the dreams and aspirations of Black writers before us and among us. Led by archivist Melissa J. Nelson, this workshop will bring participants in conversation with rare text published between 1790-1902. Discover the personal narratives of Black authors who wrote in resistance to the colonial imagination. Participants will be guided through writing exercises to reflect on, remember, and document Black dreams. We are holding space for the possibilities of Black life.

    The workshop was developed for the University of Ottawa Archives & Special Collections.

VISUAL JOURNALING WITH BLACK ARCHIVES

  • How can we reimagine the archive? Join archivist Melissa J. Nelson and artist Anthony Gebrehiwot as they explore the potential of Black archival collections for Black artistic creation. Come view original archival materials and develop your own artistic interpretations through visual journaling. Design a visual journal page with words, sketches, paint, or collage. Art supplies are provided to help you bring your creative ideas to life. The workshop will include a short presentation and discussion with time for reflection.

    Reviews:

    • “Im so glad I found this workshop! I realized how important it is for us to all document ourselves intentionally. I felt inspired to create my visual journal as a reminder to myself — that I can just be. Thank you for doing this work!”

    • “I thoroughly enjoyed today’s session. Learning about the power black archives truly hold, and what they mean to us as black folk. I was able to learn and connect while releasing pent up energy with my community members. Most of us hadn’t met formally but definitely left as friends. A truly healing experience!”

    • “Kinda obsessed with this workshop. Getting so many ideas for research and work. Thanks so much Melissa for the encouragement to go to the archives for inspiration and connection to our projects. What a creative and healing experience this was.”

    The workshop was developed for the Archives of Ontario.

TO GRAN, WITH LOVE

  • TO GRAN, WITH LOVE is an exploration of Black memory-keeping practices as love letters to our parents, grandparents, and fore-parents. It pays homage to the sacredness of the Black home and family traditions of remembering. Led by Archivist Melissa J. Nelson, participants will reflect on the keepers of their family memories we wish to hold dear — including those who are gone but not forgotten. Participants are encouraged to bring an item or memory of a family member that grabs the heart. Your love letters can include a drawing, collage, poem, or song lyrics. Supplies are provided to help you give your love words.

    The workshop was developed for the Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue (BAND) Gallery & Cultural Centre.

DREAMING WITH ARCHIVES

  • Black Dreams. What does it mean to dream while Black? How can we understand the dreams of our ancestors? How can we carry them with us? Black people have always dreamed in refusal of the colonial imagination. The past, present, and future are intertwined. Drawing from archival materials, archivist Melissa J. Nelson will guide participants in a creative writing workshop to connect with those who came before us and imagine a future for those yet to be born. Come view original archival materials, access ancestral memories, and dream of Black futurity. No writing experience is necessary – only your imagination. This workshop will include a short presentation with time for discussion. 

    Reviews:

    • “I enjoyed how everything worked in relation with each other. The opportunity to think about and discuss memory as an entry point before visiting with the archival materials. This was a great way to set up and inspire for the dream activity. The learning opportunity was great and it was fantastic to be able to collaborate with others.”

    • “Dreaming about the kind of future I want, being invited into a space not only to dream individually but to share and see the collective dreams was instructive.”

    • “The openness to discuss amidst table group members about their thoughts and points of view on Archival work and the things they wrote or expressed in response to the prompt questions. I also very much enjoyed the ability to hold the archived photos of Black settlers in the Windsor-Essex area.”

    The workshop was developed for the Archives of Ontario.

SPECULATIVE ARCHIVING

  • Utilizing speculation in the realms of the probable, the plausible, and the possible —  Archivist Melissa J. Nelson invites participants to create an archive by way of imagination. Archives contain gaps and silences that we must read into and imagine around, beyond, and through. Participants are asked to think expansively to fill the gaps by writing an imaginary archive that troubles the line between what has been saved and what else could have been. Participants can create a journal entry, poem, letter, publication that gives voice to those who have been silenced in the archives. You will have the opportunity to submit your reimagined records to the THOMAS FISHER RARE BOOK LIBRARY.

    The workshop was developed for the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.