Terms of use

Using the archive

The content in this archive is provided for educational and research use. You are welcome to read, study, teach from, and reference it.

When you draw on the archive in your own work, cite the original sources directly wherever possible — the archive points to its sources so the historical record can be traced back to where it came from. Please carry that practice forward rather than citing the archive in place of the underlying material.

Many items reference works, images, and documents that belong to others. Their rights remain with their original holders, and nothing here transfers ownership of that material to you.

Purpose of the archive

This archive exists to document and contextualize Black and African-American protest history for educational purposes. It is not a social network, a news feed, or a publishing platform for unreviewed content.

Browsing without an account

You do not need an account to explore the archive. Public browsing is read-only and open to everyone. When you browse without signing in, the archive collects no personal information about you. See the Privacy page for the full detail.

Accounts

Accounts are optional and exist to support the work of building and caring for the archive over time.

You can create an account with an email address and password, or by signing in with Google. We use these sign-in methods only to confirm who you are, we request the minimum information needed, and we do not store any access tokens Google issues. When you sign in, we create a simple profile holding only your account identifier and — where they are available — your display name, photo, and email address. We do not collect your contacts, friend lists, or any other social-graph data. Your account is not tied to behavioral or engagement tracking; our analytics is aggregate, anonymous, and never tied to your identity (see the Privacy page).

Please keep to one account per person and keep it yours — you are responsible for activity under your account. Sign in only with an email address or Google account you control, and let us know if you believe your account has been misused.

Your session

When you sign in, your session is stored in your own web browser, not on our servers. Signing out, or clearing your browser’s site data, ends it. Because the session lives in your browser, sign out on devices you share with others. (See the Privacy page, under “Where your session is kept.”)

Acceptable use

This archive represents real people, real events, and real histories. Please treat it with care. Do not:

• Bulk-download, scrape, or systematically harvest the archive, or place automated load on it.
• Misrepresent, distort, or alter the historical record, or present archive material in a way that changes what the sources actually say.
• Remove sourcing or attribution from material you reuse from the archive.
• Attempt to gain access you have not been granted, interfere with the site’s operation, or work around its security.
• Use the archive to harass others or for any unlawful purpose.

Prohibited content

Material you submit may not include hate speech or harassment, misinformation or fabricated events, or plagiarized or copyrighted material submitted without permission. These rules apply to submissions made through the submit page, alongside the submission terms described below.

Curation by administrators

The archive has an administrator role. Administrators curate the archive — reviewing and verifying material, maintaining sourcing and accuracy, editing entries for clarity, accuracy, and context, requesting additional sourcing where needed, and declining or removing material that does not meet archival standards.

The administrator role is granted only by the archive’s operators, behind the scenes; it cannot be requested or self-assigned, and signing in does not grant it. Most accounts are ordinary contributor accounts with no special privileges over the archive.

Ending your account

When signed in, you may delete your account at any time — open the account menu (top-right), select Delete account, and confirm — or ask us to delete it. Deleting your account removes your sign-in record and your profile information (your identifier, and any display name, photo, or email we stored). That is personal information, and it is permanently removed.

Deleting your account does not erase material you have contributed to the archive. That material is retained to protect the integrity and continuity of the archive, but it is anonymized — no longer associated with your account.

We may also suspend or close an account that is used in ways these terms prohibit. Where we reasonably can, we will explain why.

Archival accuracy

The archive aims to reflect its sources, not to summarize, simplify, or reinterpret history. Facts are meant to come from the sources cited; where something is unknown, it is left marked as unknown rather than guessed at.

Even so, archives can contain errors, gaps, and entries awaiting fuller sourcing. Corrections are welcome — if you find a mistake, a questionable date, missing context, or a source worth adding, we want to hear about it so the record can be improved with care.

Links to other sites

The archive links out to other websites for reference, source material, and further reading. Those links are informational only; they are not endorsements, and a link does not make the linked source a historical authority. We do not control external sites and are not responsible for their content, and we do not track or analyze your clicks on outbound links.

Contributions and donations

Signed-in users can submit new material for review through the submit page. Submissions are reviewed by the archive team before anything is published; contributed material must cite sources, may be edited or declined, and is credited to the contributor when published.

You can support the archive with a one-time or monthly donation, handled through a dedicated, server-side Stripe checkout. Donation terms — including the no-goods-or-services disclosure and how to cancel a monthly donation — are published on the Support page.

No warranties

The archive is provided for educational and research purposes. While we work to reflect sources accurately and to keep the record sound, we make no warranties about the completeness or absolute accuracy of the content, and we are not responsible for how it is used. Fuller legal terms — including warranties, limitation of liability, and governing law — are deferred to legal counsel and will be added before publishing.

Changes to these terms

These terms may change as the archive grows and as planned features become available. When they change, the updated version will be posted on this page; for changes that affect a feature not yet live, the relevant terms will be published before that feature takes effect. Continuing to use the archive after an update means you accept the current terms.

Contact

To reach the archive’s operators — about your account, a correction, or these terms — use the contact form on this site.