Philip M. Hamer–Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award: Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library Archives Research Center

The Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library Archives Research Center is the 2024 recipient of the Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). This award recognizes an individual, institution, or organization that has increased public awareness of archives documents.

The AUC Woodruff Library partners with member academic institutions, the largest consortium of historically Black colleges and universities worldwide, to preserve Black history through collaborative teaching and scholarship. In 2021, the family of the late civil rights icons Rev. Dr. Joseph and Mrs. Evelyn Lowery donated the couple’s archives to AUC member institution Morehouse College, with the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library as its custodian.

“Working with the Lowery Institute and family members, we were able to fulfill the wishes of the late Dr. Joseph Lowery, who wanted his life’s work available to global scholars and students,” said Loretta Parham, CEO and Library Director at the AUC Woodruff Library. The Joseph Echols and Evelyn Gibson Lowery Collection encompasses more than 500 boxes of official and personal papers, photographs, documents, writings, speeches, notes, travel diaries, audio and video recordings, and mementos that chronicle the Lowerys’ impactful work alongside civil and human rights leaders. Processing the collection took two years of detailed preservation and description, including adding over 20,000 digitized items to the Woodruff Library’s public digital collection platform. To publicize the collection and make the Lowerys’ groundbreaking legacies known as widely as possible, the Woodruff Library team embarked on a publicity campaign of social media posts, promotional videos, articles, and presentations. These efforts culminated in 2023 in Lowery Community Day, a family-friendly event at the library featuring unique parts of the collection and community reflections from civil rights leaders that commemorated the opening of the archival collection.

This collection addresses a gap in the archival record and highlights an expansion of the archival record related to civil rights leadership and efforts after the 1960s. The AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library’s extensive digitization of the collection and robust outreach efforts ensure that this collection reaches well beyond AUC and illuminates the work of civil rights leaders, their profound sacrifices, and the enduring legacy of the Lowerys’ for years to come.