Black Founders Women & the Archives with Lela Sewell-Williams & Rebecca Shipman

Lela J. Sewell-Williams, Curator of the Manuscript Division within Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) at Howard University, has a vested interest in the preservation of the history and culture of those of African descent having served within the archives field for over 25 years. Previous to her recent return to Moorland-Spingarn, having held the role of Assistant Curator of Manuscripts, 2001-2005, she served as the Manager of the Columbia Maryland Archives. During her career, Sewell Williams has experienced various privileges including becoming the first University Archivist at her alma mater South Carolina State University, initiating the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s Hip-Hop Archive Project and Moorland-Spingarn’s Black Regional Dance Archives, and founding an archival consulting firm, Preserve Your Story. However, one privilege she holds very dear is the 2011 board appointment to serve as the International Association of Blacks in Dance archivist, an honor she still maintains.

Rebecca Shipman graduated from Howard University with a BFA in Art History in 2023. In the past, Shipman has worked with GANGGANG, a non-profit focusing on the visibility of Black artists in the Midwest and equity in the arts at large. For the past two years, Shipman has worked at Moorland-Spingarn Research Center in the museum and in the manuscripts departments. Shipman is the 2022-23 Terra Curatorial Fellow at the Phillips Collection where she conducts research on underrepresented artists in American Modernism. Shipman will be continuing her education working toward an MLIS at Syracuse University in the fall.