Unite the Right Rally Archive

Why are we collecting/for whom/to what end

Our local community is still reeling from the events of August 12, 2017. The days surrounding the “Unite the Right” rally and counter-protests saw loss of life, physical violence, and community turmoil significant enough to merit international media coverage in Charlottesville. With full recognition that many in our community are still recovering and coping with these events, we want to collect your photos and videos and document your stories in order to build a digital archive of local experiences surrounding the “Unite the Right” rally and counter-protests. Our hope is to preserve and make accessible a diverse range of materials so that the community and future researchers can better understand this event in the context of our local and national history.   

What can I submit?

Personal stories, images, video, audio that are your own personal materials.

What if I have news stories or other content I would like to submit that I did not personally create?

Use our URL nomination form to nominate the work of other people for consideration in the archive.

What will you do with my materials and what happens after I submit materials to the archive?

All submissions will first be subject to review for inclusion into the archive by the Terms and Conditions for the collection. It is important to note that this will take time, and that materials, even if the submitter chooses them to be public, will not be immediately available.

After a review period, if you have ticked the box on the form that allows your submission to be “public,” (see image below) your material may be published on the web. Otherwise, your materials will only be available to Library-approved researchers.

Your materials can be shared with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated on the digital collecting form as part of the Library’s digital collections or exhibits. 

Can I submit physical materials, too?

Yes. though we will be focused on digital materials at our community events. For additional questions about donating physical materials, please contact Special Collections directly at collect@virginia.edu. 

I can’t make this event. Will there be others?

We are collaborating with additional Charlottesville communities to host future events, and will send out notice and calls for participation in advance of these additional events.