“They Didn’t Even Know That Was Our Dream”: Tuskegee University’s Path to Preserving Black History

Preserving 130 years of Black history, the Tuskegee University Archives and Legacy Museum (TUALM) manages a diverse treasury of artifacts. For years, the team struggled to manage these vast holdings through manual systems, which limited their ability to streamline workflows or provide public visibility. During a member panel at our recent Annual Summit, University Archivist Dr. Constance Caddell shared why transforming this work was so critical. As a leader among more than 800 Historically Black Colleges and Universities nationwide, Tuskegee sought to solve these challenges not just for themselves, but to provide a replicable model for other underserved communities to increase their own visibility. As a mission-driven nonprofit that functions as an extension of its members, Lyrasis provided the funding, solutions, guidance and values needed to bridge the gap between Tuskegee’s limited resources and its ambitious goals.

Member-Voted Success: Tuskegee’s Proposal

Tuskegee was awarded Lyrasis Catalyst Funding in 2025 for their project, Implementing CMS: Increasing Access and Visibility of a HBCU’s Archives and Museum. The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund is an award program that provides support for new ideas and innovative projects that advance the mission and reach of Lyrasis member organizations. The project sought funding for the Tuskegee University Archives and Legacy Museum (TUALM) to manage holdings, provide access and increase visibility of the vital collections housed at their repositories using CollectionSpace and the CollectionSpace public browser. 

In the member panel, Caddell shared how she became aware of the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund opportunity. When she first joined Tuskegee, a Lyrasis regional representative visited campus to outline available member resources (including the Catalyst Fund), and Caddell recalled being “truly happy and impressed” by the support offered. Upon hearing about the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund, she “immediately had a pin in [her] mind” that she wanted to pursue the grant for the University’s Archives and Legacy Museum.

The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund: From a "Pin in My Mind" to Project Reality

The proposal earned a Lyrasis Catalyst Fund grant after being voted on and awarded by the Lyrasis membership. The University was now set to implement CollectionSpace, and, budget permitting, add ArchivesSpace in a later phase. 

After planning sessions with Lyrasis and other librarians and archivists, the team learned it could implement both systems at once. Lyrasis recommended a lower-cost configuration that made it possible, surprising the team. “They didn’t even know that that was our dream,” Caddell said. As Lyrasis members, they were also able to take advantage of membership discounts, which Caddell said were “a true help to us, as a smaller institution, for us to achieve our goals.”

Empathy for Constraints: Understanding Funding and Staffing Realities

Tuskegee successfully implemented ArchivesSpace and CollectionSpace simultaneously, launching both within just a few weeks before the end of the semester. Caddell emphasized that Lyrasis provided a “collaborative and engaging” support system that felt like a “relatable, genuine, and authentic experience” throughout the process, from initial project feasibility discussions to staff training and direct guidance. Ultimately, she found it especially meaningful to work with “fellow librarians and archivists” who deeply understood Tuskegee’s specific needs.

The new systems are already improving how Tuskegee manages, accesses and shares its collections. Caddell shared, “It was just a great support system. It greatly assisted our staff, but not only that, it also provided a public-facing presence, because we have the public browsers, which are hosted through Lyrasis, for our researchers, for our scholars, for our students, for our visitors, and so many more.”

Member-Governed Support: A Voice in Future Improvements

Caddell noted that the collaboration was defined by Lyrasis’s “authentic interest in our work and the success of our library services department,” particularly because their experts understood the unique resource and staffing issues common to smaller institutions. Partnering with a nonprofit, member-governed organization offered a level of support not “typically associated with the larger vendors.” Membership provided both immediate financial sustainability through discounts and the ability to remain “a part of that community” as they grow. “As members, I feel like we have a voice, we can share our experiences, and we can offer insight to what worked for our organization and what we would even like to see in the future,” she said.

Looking ahead, Caddell said Tuskegee will continue to rely on the systems and the partnership that made them possible to support the University’s long-term stewardship of its diverse collections. “Lyrasis is stable, it's reliable, and so we're hoping for the continued use, even down through the years, for our archives and for our museums."

Learn more about the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund, and start planning your proposal for the next cycle, opening in January 2027. 

Learn more about CollectionSpace, a web-based, open source collections management software for museums and cultural heritage organizations. Lyrasis is the organizational home of CollectionSpace and offers CollectionSpace hosting services. 

Learn more about Lyrasis ArchivesSpace Hosting, where we host, maintain, support and update your instance of the leading open source platform for archival collections management.