Presented in conversation with SNMA Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian, they will discuss the development of the African American Research Library and Cultural Center’s first LGBTQ Collection. In doing so, Dr. LaRoche will cover the process and trajectory of the following donations and collaborations: BLK magazine and related materials, the Dr. Naomi Ruth Cobb Collection and the Black Lesbian Archive collaboration.
About Dr. Ramona LaRoche
Ramona La Roche, Ph.D. serves as Assistant Director of Adult Information Services at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. A former Institute of Library and Museum Services (ILMS) Cultural Heritage Informatics Leadership (CHIL) Fellow recipient, she received her doctorate in Information Science from the University of South Carolina’s College of Communications. She also holds a M.Ed. [Columbia College, SC], and a BFA from the School of Visual Arts, [New York City].
Her published works Include “Bajan To Gullah” Cultural Capital: Wood, Stone, Iron, and Clay 1670 To 1770 (2017); Gullah Connections: Crossing Over, Passing The Links between the Worlds, Orisa: Yoruba gods and spiritual identity in Africa and in the diaspora (2005), and Black America Series: Georgetown County, South Carolina (2000). Her consultant work focuses on Cultural Heritage Informatics: arts, artisans, thanatology, and digital humanities particularly related to coastal Florida, low-country SC and Barbados; as well as family history research, building critical community archives and providing digital technology training wherever interest in the global African diaspora is found!