In support of the Washingtoniana mission to collect, preserve and provide access to primary source materials that document the history and culture of local D.C., we have established a DC Punk Archive in DC Public Library’s Special Collections. We have received several collection donations and continuously engage the public in the project through programming, volunteer training, exhibits and concerts. We are still adding to the collections - if you'd like to find a home for your local music collections—fliers, posters, zines, recordings—please contact michele.casto@dc.gov.



The Punk Archive is now accessible by appointment at the Peabody Room of the Georgetown Neighborhood Library. To schedule an appointment, please contact us. Some parts of the collections have been digitized and made available through the library's digital collections portal, DigDC.

Collections

We have received and continue to accept donations of personal collections that include materials in various formats: photographs, zines, books, records, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, videos, live recordings, fliers, posters, set lists, letters, tickets, buttons and other ephemera. View our inventory of recordings.



Subject content is not be limited to the music itself, but could include anything pertinent to the cultural context, such as organizations, record labels, houses, venues, festivals, record shops, radio stations and tours. The subject scope is intentionally broad, punk and related local independent music 1976 to present, in order to capture both well-documented and lesser-known stories.



Collections received:

Mark ANDERSEN - organizational records of Positive Force DC and research materials for Dance of Days (Washington Post article)

Tom BERARD - fliers and zines

Annie Lou BERMAN - oral histories

Jourdan BETETTE & Sasha LORDE - posters from shows at Comet Ping Pong

BRIAN MCKENZIE INFOSHOP - Organization records

Tony BUCKLEY - zines, fliers, recordings and other ephemera

Elliott CALDWELL - fliers and photos

Cynthia CONNOLLY - fliers, posters and artwork from shows at d.c. space

John DAVIS - zines, fliers and records

Bobbie DOUGHERTY - fliers and other ephemera

Sohrab HABIBION - videorecordings of punk shows

Julia HAINER-VOLAND - fliers and zines

Xyra HARPER - zines and radio shows

Richard HARRINGTON - set of Unicorn Times

Eddie JANNEY - fliers and posters

Melissa KLEIN - LPs and riot grrrl zines

Carni KLIRS - fliers and demos

Mike MADEJA - Fliers and zines

Kevin MATTSON - Positive Force fliers and zines

David MENDES - Fliers and zines

Peter MOLIN - Photographs

Chris MOORE - fliers, posters and demos

Jaques MORGAN - fliers and posters

Deane NETTLES - fliers, postcards and photographs

Katy OTTO/Exotic Fever Records - flyers and recordings

PUNK THE CAPITAL - dvd, records, posters and source material from the documentary

Radio CPR - organizational records and radio shows

Mark ROBINSON - recordings and ephemera from Teenbeat Records

Mike ROSS - zines and letters (Washington Post article)

Jim SAAH - zines

Rachel SENGERS - zines, fliers and posters

Ryan SHEPARD - 7" records, live recordings, and punk fliers and posters

Scott SOMMERS - Photographs

Teri STUBS - videos of 9:30 Club shows (Bandwidth article; Washington Post article)

Chris SUSPECT - Photographs

Cynthia ULEMAN - zines

Clarissa VILLONDO - photos

David WEINSTEIN - videos of Positive Force benefit concerts

Robbie WHITE - Slickee Boys posters and ephemera

The list above represents donated collections of 25 or more items, which will be processed as individual collections named for the donors. Smaller donations will be added to a general collection, with donor information attached to individual items. We'd like to thank the following donors for contributing items to the general collection:



9:30 Club ▪ Allison ACOSTA ▪ Jack AGWELT ▪ AKASHIC Books ▪ Michael ANDRADE ▪ B. AVERY ▪ Natalie AVERY ▪ Jason BARNETT ▪ Chris BATES ▪ Mark BEEMER ▪ Troy BENT ▪ James BERBERT ▪ David BERMAN ▪ Alec BERRY ▪ Paul BISHOW ▪ Kylos BRANNON ▪ Dave BROWN ▪ Matthew BURGER ▪ Michele CASTO ▪ CHAIN and the Gang ▪ Sharon CHESLOW ▪ Alec COOPER ▪ CRICKET CEMETERY Records ▪ Sara CURTAIN ▪ Matthew DINGEE ▪ Amy DOMINGUES ▪ Bobbie DOUGHERTY ▪ Ian DURKIN ▪ Thomas Sayers ELLIS ▪ David ENSMINGER ▪ FIL ▪ Tim FOLLOS ▪ Glenn FRIEDMAN ▪ Teresa GIONIS ▪ Vicente GUTIERREZ ▪ Grant HARDESTER ▪ Vernon HAWKINS ▪ Mark HERLONG ▪ Amanda HURON ▪ Brett ISSACOFF ▪ Carlos IZURIETA/Youngblood Records ▪ Leena JAYASWAL ▪ Casey JONES ▪ Evan KEELING ▪ Shawna KENNEY ▪ Beck LEVY ▪ Loud BOYZ ▪ Shawn MCDERMOTT ▪ Alek MACKAYE ▪ Amanda MACKAYE ▪ Ian MACKAYE/Dischord Records ▪ Mike MAGUIRE ▪ Ryan MCCOY ▪ Susie MCQUARY ▪ MOBIUS Strip ▪ Matt MOFFATT ▪ Michael O'CONNOR ▪ Peter PAOULAKOS ▪ Stephen PARSON ▪ Joey PATCHAN ▪ Matthew PAYNE ▪ Shira PILARSKI ▪ Bryan PILAT ▪ Hayley Gordon PIVATO ▪ Christopher PROKOP ▪ Malcolm RIVIERA ▪ David ROSENBERG ▪ Taylor ROSS ▪ Tony ROSS ▪ Katherine RYNER ▪ Alex SCHELLDORF ▪ Hal SCHMULOWITZ ▪ James SCHNEIDER ▪ Dan SEARING ▪ Katherine SEITZ ▪ Matthew SIBLO ▪ Willona SLOAN ▪ John STABB ▪ SWALTB ▪ Antonia TRICARICO ▪ JoAnn WARD ▪ Christiana WHEELER ▪ Suzanne WNEK ▪ Don ZIENTARA



To donate materials to the collection or for more information, contact Michele Casto, Special Collections Librarian, Washingtoniana.

Programming and Community Engagement

Community involvement in this effort is a top priority. We have sought support and advice from the local music community, and we have invited interested individuals to volunteer as community archivists to help with the processing and digitization of donated materials. We are developing relationships with other area repositories with local music collections to explore avenues of collaboration and resource sharing.



Programming has been another avenue for engaging the public in this project. Every October we host a month-long series of programs to celebrate the anniversary of the project's launch in 2014. We have also held a bi-monthly concert series in the MLK Library basement and other locations. Does your local band want to play a Punk Archive Library show? Fill out this form.

Preservation and Access

Balancing preservation and access is a high priority for this project. Materials are housed and handled according to best archival practices. Security of the materials is a priority, and as with all archival collections in Washingtoniana, require an appointment to access. Digitization of these collections will allow greater access while minimizing handling of original materials. As collections are digitized they will be added to the Special Collections digital collections DigDC.



Related Collections

University of Maryland Special Collections in the Performing Arts

The University of Maryland has established a D.C. Punk and Indie Fanzine Collection, 1979-2012, and as a collaboration between the two libraries, we will scan any zines that accompany donations to the DC Punk Archive in Washingtoniana and share them with UMD to help fill gaps in their (unless the donor prefers to donate original zines to UMD).

Special Thanks

Special thanks go to:

James Schneider, who helped catalyze this project by reaching out to collaborate with the library on the preservation of D.C. punk materials encountered during the making of the documentary Punk the Capital

The Institute for Museum and Library Services, the DC Public Library Foundation, Stephanie Williams of DC Music Download and Derek and Tom Brown for grant funding and fundraising efforts on behalf of the project

Music community members who have generously offered advice and assistance to the project

The many who have already offered donations of collections and who have volunteered to assist with the project

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