An archival world turns: Armenian women’s archives in Southeast Michigan

This paper examines the nature and context of archival silences in two Armenian institutions in south-east Michigan and how those absences relate to the personal and family archives of Armenian women. We studied the dissonance between the representation of Armenian women’s voices and experiences in institutional archives and their larger role in the community as cultural linchpins and memory-keepers. Through interviews, archival research, participant observation, and abductive coding and analysis of both interview transcripts and fieldnotes, we uncover and theorize the significance behind those absences and the abundance of archival materials outside the institution. Each name in this research project has been changed to protect the privacy of our participants.