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U of A special collections moved drag oral‑history material after public concern, university tells committee
Summary
University archivist Randy Massenau said a social‑media call for drag‑show oral histories initially posted under the folk & traditional arts program was moved to Special Collections after community concerns; Special Collections archives controversial or complex materials as research resources, the university said.
A University of Arkansas archivist told the Senate committee that an oral history request about Arkansas drag performances was posted under the folk & traditional arts program but, after public complaints, university leadership relocated the material to Special Collections.
Randy Massenau of the University of Arkansas Fayetteville explained the project’s scope and said leadership agreed the material fit better in Special Collections, which preserves unique or rare research materials that researchers request regardless of topic. He said the office updated press releases and social posts on the same day to reflect the change and that Special Collections houses material on many sensitive and contested subjects, from lynching to gambling.
Massenau told members Special Collections is a research repository and does not promote or advocate for the topics it holds. "We collect that information, and that information exists in a file. It's not taught in a class. It exists in a file," he said, adding researchers can access the collections for study.
Committee members asked whether the library selectively removes items; Massenau said Special Collections retains materials across viewpoints and topics and provided counts of different collection types to illustrate breadth of holdings.
The committee accepted the explanation and moved on to other agenda items.
