Hi! I’m Rachael, Founder of Relicura

When I look back on my early years in archives, I realize the experience was masterfully designed so I could reimagine the profession as a whole. Those formative years were the perfect storm of disadvantages — untended archives in shambles, limited funding, and pervasive old-school mentality. I was a young woman working under male-dominated leadership, determined to prove myself, and impossibly tasked with bringing visibility to collections with next to no resources at my disposal. It had all the makings of failure, but it was exactly what I needed to define my place in this work. 

The fewer the resources, the more creative I became as a problem-solver; the more taxing my environment grew, the more determined I was to cultivate positive workplaces; the more challenging it became to quantify the value of a collection, the more compelling my outreach and grant writing efforts grew. 

The hardships became my edge, my hunger for systemic change, my passion for stewarding stories, and my commitment to being a fierce advocate for fair labor. 

And through it all, my mission was clear: Rethink EVERYTHING.

We can — 

• Use best practices to inform our work without being wedded to industry standards just because “that’s the way it’s always been done.”
• Bring meaning and significance to collections of all sizes by considering any and all resources to bring them visibility.
• Preserve the integrity of our collections without overcomplicating them. 
• Actively combat the intimidating physical and digital spaces in our communities and offer multiple points of access. 
• Create touchstone experiences that give people ample opportunities to explore emotional connections to the past.