Florence Edwards Borders (February 24, 1924 – September 7, 2018) was an American archivist, historian, and librarian. She specialized in the preservation of African American historical artifacts, especially those related to Afro-Louisianans.

Early life and education

Florence Borders was born on February 24, 1924, in

New Iberia, Louisiana New Iberia (; ) is the largest city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana, Lafayette, and forms part of ...

. 18 months later, she and her family moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. She graduated from McDonogh #35 High School and attended

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

in Baton Rouge, her father's alma mater, for a BA in English. She attended Rosary College, now Dominican University, for a second bachelor's degree and a master's in Library Science. Borders completed her post-master's study at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

's Graduate Library Sciences School, and continued to study at several universities and institutions across the country, including the Library and Archives Institute of the

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the Southe ...

Case-Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

, the Ford Foundation Institute at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

the National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

, the Library of Congress Institute in Philadelphia, and the Society of Southwest Archivists Institute in Dallas. She and husband James B. Borders III had two sons, James IV and Sylvanus Edwards, and one daughter, Thais.

Career

In the 1940s, Borders worked as a library assistant at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

; she was the first African-American librarian hired by the school. She laterbecame a librarian at Bethune-Cookman College, where she met her husband, a musician and educator named James B. Borders III. She held other similar positions at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

and

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana, United States. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African ...

before she trained to become an archivist. In 1970, she returned home to New Orleans. From 1970 to 1989, Borders served as the senior archivist and "pioneer staff member" of the

Amistad Research Center The Amistad Research Center (ARC) is an independent archives and manuscripts repository in the United States that specializes in the history of African Americans and ethnic minorities. It is one of the first institutions of its kind in the United ...

before retiring. However, only five months after retiring, she returned to work as head archivist for the Center for African and African-American Studies at

(SUNO) from 1989 until her retirement almost 20 years later. As a scholar, she was active in engaging and promoting New Orleans and South Louisiana culture. The

holds the Florence Borders papers, 1933-2007, which includes many of her personal papers, essays, archival aids, interviews, and research. She curated and organized many exhibits over her career through Amistad, Chicory, and SUNO. One of her projects at Amistad was as sole processor of the Thomas C. Dent Papers, 1972-1000. She began attending meetings of the

Society of American Archivists The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist Voluntary association, association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Establi ...

in the 1970s and in the 1980s, she helped establish the SAA Task Force on Minorities, now the Archivists and Archives of Color.

Publications and media

Borders co-founded the scholarly journal '' Chicory Review'', which focuses on African-American history and culture. She published many of her own articles in ''

Callaloo Callaloo ( , ; many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux, or callalloo) is a plant used in popular dishes in many Caribbean countries, while for other Caribbean countries, a stew made with the plant is called call ...

'', the ''

Black Music Research Journal The ''Black Music Research Journal'' was a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Center for Black Music Research at the Columbia College Chicago. It covers the philosophy, aesthetics ...

'', ''Louisiana Library Bulletin'', and her own journal, ''Chicory Review'', where she served as editor. She frequently lectured at events and conferences, and served as research consultant for several films and oral histories. She worked as a researcher for ''The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow'', and appeared in ''Liberty Street Blues''.

Marlon Riggs Marlon Troy Riggs (February 3, 1957 – April 5, 1994) was a Black gay filmmaker, educator, poet, and activist. He produced, wrote, and directed several documentary films, including '' Ethnic Notions'', '' Tongues Untied'', '' Color Adjustment'' ...

drew on her expertise for his documentary ''Black Is, Black Ain't'', she was consulted for the film ''House Divided'', and she coordinated many interviews for the oral history project "Behind the Veil: The Jim Crow Era."

Death

Borders died on September 7, 2018, in New Orleans.

Affiliations

* Charter member of the

since 1970s *

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achi ...

sorority * President of the New Orleans' chapter of the B Sharp Music Club * Founder of Chicory Society of Afro-Louisiana History and Culture * Vice President of Our Lady of Lourdes School Board * Grants review committee of the Arts Council of New Orleans * Consultant for the Neighborhood Revitalization Project of the Claiborne Corridor * Consultant for Louisiana World Exposition Afro-American Pavilion * Executive Board of Directors for Louisiana Archives and Manuscripts Association * Greater New Orleans Archivists * Charter Member of the Academy of Certified Archivists * Third World Archivists

Awards and honors

* Unsung Heroes Plaque awarded by the Crescent City Chapter of Links, 1987 * Mayor's Certificate of Merit awarded by the City of New Orleans, 1987 * The Callaloo Award from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, 1988 * Vital as a Heartbeat Award from the Urban League, 1988 * Certificate of Appreciation awarded by the

, 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borders, Florence 1924 births 2018 deaths American archivists Librarians from Louisiana American women librarians American women archivists Southern University alumni University of Chicago staff Rosary College alumni American women historians African-American historians 20th-century American historians African-American librarians Bethune–Cookman University people Grambling State University people School board members in Louisiana 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American women writers Louisiana State University alumni 20th-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women writers Historians of Louisiana People from New Iberia, Louisiana Writers from New Orleans History journal editors Society of American Archivists