The mission of The Black Girl Archive is to create a dedicated digital archival space that specializes in archiving the lived experiences, thoughts, dreams, ideas, and values of Black girls living in and navigating the physical space of Englewood, Chicago, IL. This includes cisgender Black girls, trans-Black girls, nonbinary Black youth, queer Black girls, and Black girls of all sexualities, gender identities, religious beliefs, family economic statuses, and all other intersecting identities.

Finding sources about children in general within archives can be an uphill battle, as traditionally, children are seen as non-historical figures and viewed as incapable of shaping history or contributing to it. In addition, sources you find in archives regarding children are almost always from an adult’s perspective and not the child themselves. These difficulties surrounding sources about children throughout history are significantly magnified when looking at Black children, especially Black girls, who are oftentimes adultified and, at minimum, are perceived through a racist, sexist, and ageist lens. The Englewood neighborhood faces similar issues in terms of archival materials. Englewood was not a predominantly Black neighborhood until the early 1960s, and as the Black population in Englewood increased, efforts to preserve and archive the neighborhood's history drastically decreased. Researching Englewood’s history as more Black people moved into the area is extremely challenging as sources are scarce and limited to certain topics. So imagine wanting to research how Black girls navigated living in Englewood, how Black girls shaped the neighborhood, and their thoughts of the neighborhood! Sources are even MORE few and far between!