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Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection

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: [...] proud boys; A horizontal poster that reads '[...] PROUD BOYS' in black marker., A diagonal section of the poster is torn off and missing.

: # BLM patch; Black patch with the phrase '#BLM' sewn onto it in white thread.

: #Blackvotersmatter; A white poster with #BlackVOTERSMatter printed in large block letters. Thin orange borders on sides., Clear packing tape covers the poster. Some tearing in corners.

: #Blackvotersmatter, hello and #fuckTrump, fuck racism; A horizontally oriented poster reading '#BlackVotersMatter' on the left, 'Hello and #FuckTrump! to you - as well.' in the center, and 'Fuck Racism' on the right. '#BlackVotersMatter' appears 3 times, one above the other, each on a different color background. 'Hello and #FuckTrump! to you - as well.' is in different colors on a black background with yellow around the edges. 'Fuck Racism' in in white on a black background. Everything is on a white background. The poster is covered in plastic, has adhesive along the edges, and is torn. The left and center elements have red string attached to them., The 'Hello and #FUCK trump! to you - as well' sticker was on Nadine Seiler's vehicle for over three years and was placed on the Black Lives Matter Memorial fence as a space filler after destruction. An unknown person contributed multiple 'Fuck Racism' stickers, one of which was added to this artifact and one of which was stuck to a speaker.

: #BLM; A horizontal poster that reads '#BLM #BLM #BLM' on a rainbow colored background in white lettering.

: #defundmpd; A horizontally oriented poster reading '#DEFUNDMD #ENDSARS'. The text is black on a yellow background., The poster is torn and has holes in it.

: #FreeKeithDavisJr; A square white poster that reads 'FREE KEITH DAVIS JR' in blue lettering.

: #FundTheFence QR code; A printed sign with a QR code linking to a GoFundMe. Text at the top of the sign reads 'The Guardians of the BLM Memorial Fence need help!' Additional text describes the work of the guardians of the fence.

: #HandsoffJalil / Back; A horizontally oriented poster reading '#HandsOffJalil'., The poster is black with white writing, is torn, and has holes in it.

: #Save our children; Handwritten text reading '#Save our children,' '#Honduras,' '#LOVE NOT HATE.' This is written on piece of lined notebook paper in brown, blue, and pink.

: #saveourchildren; A piece of white ruled binder paper with '#SAVEOURCHILDREN' written in grey pen and thin pink marker, 'BLACKLIVESMATTER' written in grey pen and thin blue marker, and '#MICHIGANRULES' written in grey pen and thin light pink marker. At the bottom of the page there are two hearts drawn in grey pen and light pink marker., Clear packing tape on corners, page looks to have been crumpled/ wrinkled along right side. Marker has bled in some areas, and there is some brownish staining around the bottom hole on the lower left side.

: #SayHerName; A vertically oriented poster with a photograph of a Black woman on blue paper in a pocket protector reads '#SayHerName'., The poster is torn and has holes in the corners.

: #SAYTHEIRNAMES; A poster reading '#SAYTHEIRNAMES / BREONNA TAYLOR / ELIJAH McClain / NINA POP / TONY McDade / BLM'. There is a photograph of each person named., The poster is pieces of paper attached to a cardboard background with various faith-based institutions listed. The poster is water damaged, torn, and has adhesive along the edges.

: #Saytheirnames / Donations accepted; A white poster with multicolor writing, each letter alternating from purple, red, green, and yellow that reads '#SAY, THEIR, NAMES'., There is damage to the top left corner and clear tape on the original artifact.

: #SHUTDOWNDC; A horizontal white poster with hashtag '#SHUTDOWNDC' in red marker., The artifact has shoe prints and is visibly dirty.

: #TeamREPARATIONS; On the front of a black t-shirt, '#TeamREPARATIONS' is typed in white font. Underneath, 'Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma 2021' is type in a smaller white font., There are faint, black diagonal lines run along the t-shirt.

: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fuck 12; A horizontally oriented white and black poster reading '1 2 3 4 5 6 II 7 8 9 10 11 Fuck 12' a white and black sticker on the lower right reads 'TRACEDFC24K'., The poster is torn and has adhesive along the edges. This artifact was saved by Nadine Seiler from the original June, 2020 Black Lives Matter Memorial Wall and added to the later wall as a space filler after destruction.

: 1-800-DUMP TRUMP; A horizontally oriented sign with text in Arabic and English. The text in English consists of block letters reading '1-800 DUMP TRUMP' with a decorative chain below.

: 11/14: Nazis stabbed my friend; This black poster oriented widthwise features four lines of white text that read '11/14: Nazis stabbed my friends. Where were you? Defend DC!', Some tearing.

: 1312 / ACAB; A piece of black painted cardboard titled '1312' in white spray paint., Display has traces of original cardboard color.

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Title: Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection
Date Created: 2021-01-01
Note: This collection contains strong language, references to police brutality, and violent imagery.
Abstract: The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection consists of posters, banners, clothing, photographs, and ephemeral objects attached to the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence (BLM Fence) surrounding Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C, from June 2020 to January 2021. The artifacts were attached to the fence to protest the treatment of Black and Brown communities by police and address various social issues, including racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights, immigration, international human rights violations, nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, the 2020 presidential campaign, politicians, and elections. Activists turned the fence into a memorial, an art project, and an outpouring of grief. The BLM Fence suffered vandalism, including near destruction on October 30, 2020. The surviving artifacts were collected by activists and reattached to the new BLM Fence, which remained standing until January 30, 2021. People came from all over D.C. and the United States to add artifacts to the BLM Fence and pay their respects to victims of police brutality. The artifacts were curated and cared for by activists Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin. Librarian and archivist Aliza Leventhal assisted Ms. Seiler and Ms. Irwin in collecting and inventorying the artifacts from the BLM Fence.

The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection is a partnership between DC Public Library, Enoch Pratt Free Library, The Library of Congress, and Howard University. The artifacts were collected and donated by Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin with assistance from Aliza Leventhal. Enoch Pratt Free Library completed the digitization of the artifacts. Metadata of the artifacts was completed by staff at the DC Public Library and members of the public. A portion of the artifacts are housed at Howard University and may be viewed through Digital Howard.

The artifacts in this collection are arranged in alphabetical order. Original spellings and capitalizations have been retained in the descriptions of the artifacts. Some artifacts contain content on both the front and the back. Those artifacts are grouped, and both items are reflected in the title (example: Black lives matter / Enough ). Click on an artifact to see both sides of the item. To keep as many of the original artifacts in one digital location as possible, included in this collection are 38 artifacts from the BLM Fence collected by the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. The source of these Library of Congress artifacts is noted in the description.

Help us make the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection as accurate as possible! If you see information that needs to be updated, please email us at peoples.archive@dc.gov.
Neighborhood: Downtown, Washington, D.C.
City: Washington, D.C.
Subject: Protest posters
Black lives matter movement
Black persons
African Americans
Police brutality
LGBTQIA+ rights
Women's rights
Emigration and immigration
Politics and government
Human rights
Local identifier: blmf
Rights Information: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only
The collection donors have made this collection material available for educational use. The collection materials should not be used for commercial activities and derivative works should not be made.