Hacking The Archive

Hacking the Archive links past organizing and movement-based histories to future, multi-generational action plans by connecting local leaders, activists, archivists, students and residents of all ages.

Hacking the Archive (HTA) is a hands-on civic adventure to co-design the next 50 years of equity-driven social action. Our mission is to create new ways to explore past and present activist stories that boldly advance alternative futures. By crowdsourcing history-infused solutions to resident-defined challenges, we expand the traditional conventions of archival research and disrupt narrow, academic conceptions of knowledge creation. We are amped to build vibrant activist coalitions, accelerate hyperlocal knowledge-sharing and grow a sprawling network of leaders passionately committed to population-level systems change.

An archival image of a group of young people sitting in a circle with adults in discussion.

An archival image of a protest for equal education, with young people holding protest signs saying "Teech us to reed and rite" and "Stop segregation"

A group of people sitting around a table with coffee cups and papers with archival images on them.

An archival image showing a protest in Boston from the 1960s with signs that say "We Need Homes" and "Human Right! Human Needs!"

Northeastern University Library, Archives and Special Collections. Chinese Progressive Association records, Freedom House, Inc. records, and James Fraser photographs.

Hacking the Racial Wealth Gap: Education Edition

May 4, 2024 @ MIT

Our 2024 hackathon invites community organizations, youth, students, activists, faith-based institutions, and archivists to tackle Boston’s racial wealth gap. The three winning teams with the best new ideas will win prizes up to $1,000!

Registration closes on May 1 or whenever we run out of seats!

YOU

We are looking for Boston residents, activists, archivists, students, and more to participate!

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ONE
TEAM

Spend the day hacking the archives with a team of 4-5 people.

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ONE
QUESTION

Answer one of our community partners’ questions about the racial wealth gap and education in Boston.

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ONE
SOLUTON

Pitch your solution to community partners and potentially win one of three prizes!

YES! We will have a panel of judges to decide the top 3 winners of the hackathon and teams will get cold, hard cash (via Visa gift cards) if they win!  
1st Place - $1000
2nd Place - $500
3rd Place - $250
Plus, everyone will leave with a specially made Hacking the Archive t-shirt!
YES! We will be having breakfast and lunch together, as well as celebratory cake at the end of the day. There will also be plenty of snacks available throughout to keep your fueled during your hacking!
If you have access to a personal laptop, tablet, phone, or other device to access the internet, please bring it as well as a way to keep it charged! Anything you can bring of your own will help you and your team during the day as you hack some digital archives!
We will sort participants into teams based on their interest in the different questions, and you will find out who is on your team and what question you will be hacking on the day. We will be trying to ensure that each team is inter-generational and has a variety of different perspectives on it to create a truly collaborative experience. You do not need to form a team ahead of time to register for the hackathon.
The ideas that come out of the hackathon ideas will be shared with partners for potential implementation, and may also live on in a future Hacking the Archive archive!
The last day to register is May 1, 2024 at 5pm.

Partners

Teen Empowerment
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
Morning Star Baptist Church
Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry
Greater Boston Interfaith Organization
Northeastern University Archives & Special Collections
UMASS Boston Archives
Boston City Archives
MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning
MIT Community Innovators Lab (CoLab)
Dunk the Vote
MIT School of Architecture and Planning
Trinity Church Wall Street
Brown University Library
MIT Libraries
Harvard Radcliffe Institute Schlesinger Library
UMass Lowell Library, Center for Lowell History
Boston Public Library
Apprentice Learning
Boston Plan for Excellence
Episcopal City Mission
Greatest Minds
Just-A-Start
Mass. Council of Churches
METCO
Prophetic Resistance Boston
Sociedad Latina
Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry
Suffolk University Libraries and Archives
Boston College Library
Leventhal Map Center at BPL

Our Team

Dr. Karilyn Crockett

Assistant Professor of Urban History, Public Policy & Planning, MIT DUSP
Keena Banda

Project Manager
Journee Harris

Graduate Student, Masters in City Planning, MIT DUSP
Annabel Consilvio

Graduate Student, Masters in City Planning, MIT DUSP
Alula Hunsen

Graduate Student, Masters in City Planning, MIT DUSP
Lucia Carai

Graduate Student, Masters in Technology and Policy, MIT
Chenab Navalkha

PhD student, MIT DUSP
Abdul-Razak Zachariah

Graduate Student, Masters of Urban Planning, Harvard GSD