Sankofa Special Collection: Donating Archival Material

Sankofa is a living collection and we are constantly on the lookout for new acquisitions that document the rich history of Unitarian Universalists of Color. If you are interested in donating materials to the Sankofa Special Collection, please contact us by email.

Specifically, we are looking for physical or digital documents that are...

•  Papers of individuals and families
•  Records of congregations and organizations
•  Accumulations of historical material pertaining to a single event, theme, or movement
•  Historically and culturally significant manuscripts and artifacts

When inspecting a collection we also consider the condition of the materials and expenses related to their shipping and storage. After we receive a collection, we remove materials lacking in historical and cultural significance so that we can maximize the accessibility of the collection.

Because our goal is to make history accessible, we will only acquire materials if we are given sole ownership. While we prefer to receive materials without access restrictions, we will allow materials to have reasonable access restrictions if required by the donor.

To best serve scholars and the larger UU community, all possible acquisitions materials undergo rigorous inspection. All acquisitions must be approved by the Sankofa Steering Committee.

If you have any questions about the Meadville Lombard Archives and Special Collections, just ask!

We can help with...

• Scheduling an archive visit
• Accessing archival materials
• Using our digital archive tools
• Answering reference questions
• Scanning selections of documents
• Donating archival material to Meadville Lombard
• Creating archives at your local congregation

Email an Archivist