Where to find archives for reporting on systemic racism
When investigative reporter Logan Jaffe of ProPublica was covering devastating floods in Texas, local officials described the event as “unprecedented.” But the archives told a different story.
Oral histories and historical archives revealed that flooding had threatened the same community for generations, exposing how government neglect—and not chance—shaped the disaster’s impact.
Jaffe shared this example during a recent Investigative Project on Race and Equity training she co-led with journalist and public historian Laura Kebede-Twumasi, which focused on how reporters can use archives to strengthen coverage of racial inequities.
Jaffe’s reporting is just one example of how archives can shift the frame of a story. For journalists investigating racial injustice, archives can provide evidence of how inequities are rooted in history and be tools for making communities more visible in the present.
This article highlights several archival resources, from citywide portals to community collections, that can help journalists uncover systemic racism and add historical depth to their reporting.
The Chicago Collections Consortium and other historical archives
One such tool is the Chicago Collections Consortium, a free portal that searches across the city’s libraries, museums and universities.
Jaffe demonstrated how a quick search for “immigration” surfaced naturalization certificates, photos and community records that could anchor stories about Chicago’s long migration history.
She noted that the Chicago Collections Consortium is especially useful for journalists on deadline because it aggregates dozens of institutions into a single search bar, so reporters don’t need to contact each archive individually.
The Chicago Collections Consortium also provides access to digital items that can be downloaded and used directly in reporting. For example, census records, neighborhood maps and photographs of community gatherings can add evidence and texture to a story.
Reporters covering gentrification, immigration or racial segregation in Chicago can quickly trace today’s issues back to their historical roots using this tool, Jaffe said.
The Chicago Collections Consortium is just one of many examples of historical archives available to reporters covering racial inequities.
Some other free and accessible archives include:
Black Metropolis Research Consortium: a network preserving collections on African American history in Chicago.
Chronicling America: a Library of Congress project digitizing historic newspapers nationwide, allowing reporters to see how communities of color were covered throughout history.
Digital Public Library of America: a database containing millions of photographs, documents and audiovisual materials from institutions across the U.S.
JSTOR: A database of searchable scholarly articles that can provide context on race, policy and history.
Local community archives: Neighborhood historical societies, activist-led collections and ethnic media archives that preserve perspectives excluded from mainstream institutions.
Why archives matter
Archives can expose systemic racism through documents like redlining maps to segregated school records, while also highlighting community resilience through oral histories or grassroots newspapers.
They also demonstrate continuity, countering the idea that events are unprecedented.
For journalists, this means history is more than just background. It’s evidence.
Adding a single archival detail can shift the frame of the story from “this is happening now” to “this has been happening for generations.” That reframing helps audiences see that inequities are not accidents of the present, but consequences of long-standing policies and power structures.
Archival research also builds trust with communities who have long felt invisible.
When journalists take time to surface family scrapbooks, oral histories or overlooked records, they signal that those voices matter. And that act of recognition can open the doors for deeper storytelling and stronger relationships.
Integrating archival research strengthens accuracy and reframes stories through a racial equity lens that’s less about novelty and more about accountability.
For journalists committed to equity, archives are not optional background material. They are evidence of how racism is embedded in our history and how communities have resisted it.