This paper examines the development of key Pan-African collections in the United States during the interwar period, a time of heightened Pan-African consciousness among African Americans. The emergence of professionally trained Black curators and the growth of major US philanthropic organisations fostered a concerted effort to archive and document the global Black experience. These collections, housed at institutions such as the New York Public Library and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), became significant sites of ‘worldmaking’, establishing Pan-Africanism as a distinct and transmittable field of study. In this context, Black activism intersected with white philanthropic ambition. While activists saw archives as tools for social change, philanthropists viewed them as sufficiently apolitical to meet their preference for ‘uplift’ rather than activism. The paper underscores the capacity of archives to hold multiple, conflicting interpretations and shows how a geographical approach can help avoid narrow, singular understandings of collections in the present.

中文翻译：

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黑人档案，白人慈善家：两次世界大战之间美国的泛非世界构建


本文研究了两次世界大战期间美国主要泛非藏品的发展情况，当时非裔美国人的泛非意识高度增强。受过专业培训的黑人策展人的出现和美国主要慈善组织的发展促进了对全球黑人经历的存档和记录的共同努力。这些藏品收藏在纽约公共图书馆和历史上的黑人学院和大学 （HBCU） 等机构中，成为“创造世界”的重要场所，将泛非主义确立为一个独特且可传播的研究领域。在这种情况下，黑人激进主义与白人慈善雄心相交织。虽然活动家将档案视为社会变革的工具，但慈善家认为它们足够非政治性，可以满足他们对“提升”而不是激进主义的偏好。本文强调了档案馆保存多种相互冲突的解释的能力，并展示了地理方法如何帮助避免对当前馆藏的狭隘、单一的理解。