A multi-year collaboration to preserve and promote the history of the US environmental justice movement.

The elders of the US environmental justice movement have spent the last 30-40 years working to protect people and the planet in ways that center social justice. They have a lifetime of stories and strategies to share. Many also possess extensive physical archives that document successful campaign strategies to block or shut down hazardous infrastructure development, preserve sacred lands from exploitation, or limit pesticide drift into vulnerable communities. These vital histories need to be preserved and shared to better understand contemporary challenges and to carry forward the flame of the environmental justice movement.

I’m working with people around the country to help preserve the history of the US environmental justice movement in order to keep the hard-won lessons of its activists available to current and future generations. We held national convenings in January of 2023 and 2024 in order to create space to share experiences and ideas across organizational and regional silos. This brought together activists, NGO staff, academics, archivists and curators from 16 states and the District of Virginia. From 2025-2027, we are supporting four environmental justice organizations through a process of “archival accompaniment” as they review their records, undertake pilot projects to preserve portions of them, and make plans for how they would like to preserve the rest. This work is ongoing, get in touch if you are interested in learning more!