Through My Lens: The Accidental Archivist of ‘90s Howard University

In an essay for RogerEbert.com’s Black Writers Week, Lance R. Williams reflects on how he accidentally became an archivist of 1990s Howard University. Williams entered Howard in 1990 with dreams of becoming a filmmaker, inspired in part by Spike Lee and John Singleton. After his father gave him a Minolta camcorder, he began filming everyday campus life: students on the Yard, classroom moments, work at the student run radio station WHBC, local parties, and cultural events around the university. At the time, Williams did not realize that these casual recordings would one day become historical documents. One of the most important parts of his archive is footage from a student run Hip Hop conference in 1992, which he recorded unofficially and later shared in clips on YouTube. His videos also include glimpses of people who later became widely known, including Marlon Wayans and fiber artist Bisa Butler. Decades later, footage he shot of Butler and Howard student life was used in the Smithsonian exhibition At the Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs. The essay shows that archives are not created only by major institutions. Sometimes a personal camera, a box of VHS tapes, and the instinct to preserve ordinary moments can become part of cultural memory. Looking back, Williams understands that what once seemed like simple documentation of student life now offers a window into HBCU history, Hip Hop culture, friendship, and the everyday life of a generation. His essay reminds readers that personal memory, when preserved, can become public history.

Read the full story at RogerEbert.com →