Shorefront is a 2015 recipient of the Diversity Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award will be presented at a ceremony during the SAA Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Aug. 16–22. The award recognizes an individual, group, or institution for advancing diversity within the archives profession, SAA, or the archival record.
From its beginning in 1995, Shorefront, an Evanston–based non-profit, has collected, preserved, and shared artifacts, documents, photographs, and family archives representing the lives of the black community on Chicago’s North Shore.
Shorefront’s founding was motivated by the recognition that the records of this vital history, spanning more than 150 years, were at great risk and in need of a long-term community-based steward. Shorefront is now home to more than 170 linear feet of archival collections.
In addition to maintaining the Shorefront Legacy Center, the public access point for its collection, Shorefront has embraced its mission of education, supporting extensive public programming and, through its Shorefront Press, publishing an annual journal and historical monographs.
Shorefront joins the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida in receiving the 2015 Diversity Award.