#archival-research

#archival-research

For hundreds of years, he was known only as Jersey, an enslaved boy of about 11 rendered in oil on canvas by the great 18th-century portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. But now the life of the youngster, believed to be Reynolds' earliest depiction of a person of colour, has begun to emerge, thanks to a research project. Details found in admiralty records and other archives have unearthed information about Jersey's identity, his military service and even hint he may eventually have found freedom.

The Center for Craft is now accepting applications for the 2026 Craft Archive Fellowship, offering four $5,000 awards to support research on underrepresented craft histories in the United States.

Consider Hans Holbein the Younger's portrait of Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves: an enigmatic look, cast from beneath heavy-lidded eyes; a long nose, the soft breath from which is almost felt; a red velvet gown richly adorned with gold and pearls, set against a blue background made more vivid by its recent restoration. Serving as the cover image for Elizabeth Goldring's biography, it is a painting that conveys much of her subject's continuing

In an era when contemporary culture tends to privilege immediacy, the archive offers resistance by inviting slowness, friction, and a longer view. In this three-part series, Document turns to curators Ruba Katrib, Jovanna Venegas, and Drew Sawyer, photographed on location, wearing Vowels, the brand that finds its own voice through archival research. Each of these curators places the archive at the center of their practice.

Publishing this list is like giving you an X-ray examination into my funny bone, the area that harbours all of my dumbest, stoopidest and most insincere thoughts. I got a case of dumb-dumb-itis; it's bad doc, real bad! Please do not take this examination lightly. I had to do a lot of archive searching and cross-referencing; I sought counsel from gurus and masters in the field. I dove deep.