Series 1: Digitized artifacts, 2020 or 2021
Content Description
Please note: This collection contains strong language, references to police brutality, and violent imagery. The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection consists of posters, banners, clothing, photographs, and ephemeral objects attached to the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence (BLM Fence) surrounding Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C, from June 2020 to January 2021. The artifacts were attached to the fence to protest the treatment of Black and Brown communities by police and address various social issues, including racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights, immigration, international human rights violations, nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, the 2020 presidential campaign, politicians, and elections. Activists turned the fence into a memorial, an art project, and an outpouring of grief. The BLM Fence suffered vandalism, including near destruction on October 30, 2020. The surviving artifacts were collected by activists and reattached to the new BLM Fence, which remained standing until January 30, 2021. People came from all over D.C. and the United States to add artifacts to the BLM Fence and pay their respects to victims of police brutality. The artifacts were curated and cared for by activists Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin. Librarian and archivist Aliza Leventhal assisted Ms. Seiler and Ms. Irwin in collecting and inventorying the artifacts from the BLM Fence.
Dates
- Creation: 2020 or 2021
Language of Materials
English; Arabic; Croatian; French; German; Haitian Creole; Italian; Lakota; Latin; Norwegian; Portuguese; Romanian; Russian; Spanish; Urdu
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions to accessing this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
The collection donors have made this collection material available for educational use. The collection materials should not be used for commercial activities and derivative works should not be made.
Extent
From the Collection: 76.8 Gigabytes
Abstract
Digitized artifacts from the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence.
Custodial History
Original version: Artifacts collected by Nadine Seiler,Karen Irwin, and Aliza Leventhal. Digitized by Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Repository Details
Part of the The People's Archive, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library Repository