Library Archives’ Transformation Reflects Social Justice History
Retrospective showcases collections gathered under retired director Greg Williams
“My goal has been to make this a top-flight university library,” says Greg Williams, former director of the Gerth Archives and Special Collections at CSUDH. After over two decades in charge of the archives, he has more than held up his end of the bargain. “We now have world-class archival collections that we did not have before.”
Under Williams, who retired in July 2026 after more than 22 years as director, the archive has grown from about 50 collections to more than 540.
“My long-term goal was to diversify the collection,” he says. “I think we’ve succeeded in that and have made the collections connect on some level with the students on the campus. The concept is not to limit the types of collections we have.”
The scope of the archives has grown by leaps and bounds over the last twenty years. Collections featured include the massive CSU Japanese-American Digitization Project, the Holt Labor Library, and the Tradeswomen Collections.
Other collections focus on alternative journalism, LGBTQ movements, aviation, literary history, environmentalism, the South Bay, civil rights, Latinx graphics, and activism in Southern California. The archive’s expanded holdings, and its focus on social issues, have made it into a resource that draws scholars and researchers from around the world.
“Greg Williams’ dedication to the foundational social justice history at CSUDH has catapulted a nascent archive into an array of extraordinary collections focusing on labor movements, feminism, literary local history, popular culture, and more,” says Stephanie Sterling Brasley, Dean of the University Library.
The archive is currently hosting an exhibition celebrating the collections Williams has brought in over the course of his career. “This exhibit provides snippets of the pivotal social, economic, political, and civil rights activism that is reflected throughout the collections Greg acquired,” says Brasley. “He has left an indelible footprint for generations of CSUDH students, faculty, community, and scholars.”
“It’s been a joy to collect this type of material and to see it get accessible to our students and the world,” says Williams.
As for the future of the archives, “I would like to see the people that come after me continue to grow the collection and maintain continued relevance in the archival world. I hope the CSU archives continue to flourish as they have. The process of building an archive should not end with me.”
