Collecting the easily missed stories: digital participatory microhistory and the South Asian American Digital Archive

Abstract

This paper defines and delineates the concept of participatory microhistory through an examination of the South Asian American Digital Archive's First Days Project, a community-based online project that solicits short audio, video and written narratives about South Asians immigrants' first day in the United States. First, this paper provides a brief overview of the history of the South Asian American Digital Archive and the First Days Project. Next, this paper highlights three important functions filled by participatory microhistory projects: they generate new records that represent perspectives not commonly found in archives, they convey an important sense of emotion and affect, and they effectively solicit community participation in the archival endeavour. Throughout, this paper explores participatory microhistory projects as tools to harness technology for community empowerment and build support for archives.