Our latest efforts in the world of archives — Lately, we’ve been thinking a lot about how to describe our work here at Urban Archive. While, yes, we’re building a digital platform that makes historical archives accessible, we’d be selling ourselves short if we said that’s all there is to it. Often not seen is what happens in the…

Exploring history through art, architecture, and archives — If anything is certain, the COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on educators around the world, particularly here at home in NYC. …

Here’s what happened in 2020… — It’s no secret that 2020 has been a challenging year for us all. But despite everything, Urban Archive users came together in powerful ways! In a year marked by uncertainty and loss, our partners and community taught us important lessons, reflected on the past with the present, and provided comfort…

An interview with Maddie Thompson and Sana Masood at Wildlife Conservation Society — Archives take on many forms and roles within the places that keep them. By nature, they provide us with a historical record and context, all while holding the power to inform and steer our response to information learned about the past. This week’s Q&Archive interview explores these ideas with Maddie…

An interview with Jonathan Patkowski, Digital Communications Manager at NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development — In this week’s installment of Q&Archives, we’re chatting with Jonathan Patkowski to explore the role of archives at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) — a city agency that plays a pivotal role in shaping New York’s built and social landscape. Our team here has been drawn…

An interview with Leah Constantine, Cataloguer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Archival photographs are a rich and complex resource. They are innately charged with meaning but sometimes disconnected from the people and places they represent when accessed in digital format. Our goal at Urban Archive is to help bridge this gap in the archival world and practice through collaboration and location…

An Interview with Lindsay Turley, Vice President of Museum Collections at the Museum of the City of New York — There are untraditional and important ways of interacting with archival photographs beyond acts of digital preservation and the provision of remote access. …

How Urban Archive deals with duplicates — At Urban Archive, the bulk of our work centers around collections. We’re always looking to add new ones to our platform in the same way that we’re always looking to clean and enrich what we already. …

An Interview with Chelsea Dowell, Director of Public Engagement at the Museum at Eldridge Street — Every building has a story to tell. Like memories captured in photos, buildings are remnants of a past time and past people. They inextricably hold meaning as markers and reflections of what or who is represented through them. At Urban Archive, our goal is to uncover as many “building stories”…