the story of the radical archive project
The Radical Archive Project began with a question: whose labor, creativity, and memory are preserved, and whose are rendered invisible?
In 2019, while organizing costumes at the Tyler Perry Studios Warehouse with Georgia State University students, Dr. shady Radical found that Atlanta, a center of film and television production, had almost no archives documenting its production culture, especially the below-the-line workers who sustain it. That gap became her dissertation, The Radical Archive of Preservation, and in 2021, the company that carries its name.
Today, shady Radical and The Radical Archive Project (T.R.A.P.) work at the intersection of archival services, education, and performance. At T.R.A.P., we center the body in the archives. We offer community-centered archival consulting, oral history, repository placement, and the Rooted in Memory workshop series and podcast, all grounded in Radical Archivy, Dr. Radical’s framework forthcoming from Bloomsbury Academic.
We believe archives can be more than repositories of the past. They can be tools for survival, resistance, and imagination, especially for Black artists, cultural workers, and communities whose histories have too often been left out of the record.
nta, a center of film and television production, had almost no archives documenting its production culture, especially the below-the-line workers who sustain it. That gap became her dissertation, The Radical Archive of Preservation, and in 2021, the company that carries its name.
shady Radical, PhD, MLIS, M.A., CA
Founder and Performance Archivist
shady R. Radical, Ph.D, MLIS, M.A., CA. works around issues of preservation in performance and production cultures. She earned a Ph.D. from Georgia State University in Moving Image Studies: a Master's in Library Science degree in Archival Science from the University of Alabama; and a Master's degree in Curatorial Arts and Visual Culture from New York University. Currently, she is teaching philosophy and history at Spelman College.
While writing, archiving, and teaching form the three nodes of her preservation practice, it was her experience as a key costumer at Tyler Perry Studios that ultimately inspired her passion and pursuit. In 2021, She established The Radical Archive of Performance (t.r.a.p.), also the subject of her dissertation. Her dissertation explores the theoretical implications at the intersection between the archive, blackness, and film/tv production culture.
Writing and Scholarship
Sustainability and Ethical Stewardship in Archival Practice: Perspectives from the United States. Electronic Green Journal. Issue 54. (2026)
Archiving Fellowships Blog: Ballethnic Ballet Company. DANCE/USA (2022)
BEEOMBI: The Catacombs of Drip. Oz Magazine (2022)
Ruth E. Carter at SCADFASH. Burnaway Magazine (2021)
From Cartoon to Concept. Oz Magazine (2021)
Alternate Realities: Research in Atlanta's Field of Augmented Realities. OZ Magazine (2021)
The Day to Day of The Costumer. Oz Magazine (Mar/Apr2021)
All That's Black Ain't SOUL'D. Liquid Blackness Journal (2014)
Press
Roundtable Abstract. The Business History Conference. (2025)
Archiving in Conversation. Situated Computation + Design Lab(Sit.Co.De) (2025)
An Inspired Chat with Dr. shady Radical of All over Atlanta. VoyageATL. (2025)
Meet shady Radical. Canvas Rebel. (2024)
Training of Community-Embedded Social Justice Archivists. shady Radical. University of Alabama. (2024)
Meet shady Radical. Bold Journey. (2023)
Recent Film, Media & Theatre Doctoral Recipient finds archive of performance at Tyler Perry Studios. Georgia State University (2022)
The Radical Archive of Preservation. The Disruptive Quarterly (2022)
Radical Archiving. Society of Georgia Archivists Conference. (2022)
Curating Lift Art Salon for City of Atlanta's ELEVATE. Southern Spaces. (2015)
REVIEWS
Review: "The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth," by Jermaine Fowler. Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists. 41 no. 1 (2025)
Review: "Building Representative Community Archives: Inclusive Strategies in Practice" Edited by Hannah Leah Crummé. Archival Issues 43(1), 63-65.
Current Staff
Lee A. Bailey
Accounts Manager
Most people are looking forward to telling their story no matter how short it may be. My passion is to help those individuals bring out the best they can in their business experience. My goal is to help my clients feel like they are important, and their business is necessary. I have been successful in helping my clients to find a healthy perspective, strengthen and build a good business.
My educational background includes Associates of Science in Business, Bachelor of Science in Business, and Master of Business Administration in Business and Finance from University of Phoenix.
I have more than 35 years of combined experience in both public and private sectors: as a contracts coordinator, insurance, and trust officer, managing a business center, accounting, taxation, and human resources. I provide consultation services with strategic implementation. My burning desire is to travel outside the country and to see how others in the world live. The key to my success is believe in yourself and trust God in all situations.
Past Interns
Menkhu-ta M. Whaley
Archives Intern
Menkhu-ta Menab Whaley is an archivist in training from Washington, DC. She is a 2022 graduate of Spelman College. As a Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in Museum Professions she worked at the High Museum and Clark Atlanta University as a Exhibition and Collections Fellow. Her interests lie in archives, historical material preservation, diasporic oral histories, and filmmaking. She is currently residing in Washington, DC.
Njema Williams
Archives Intern - Ballethnic Dance Company
Njema Williams, a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia, earned her bachelor’s degree in dance and history from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia in 2022. Williams’ main historical interests include 19th and 20th century American history with a focus on arts and culture, specifically Black dance history. As a sophomore, Williams worked on two public history projects, one researching and documenting the history of professors of color at Agnes Scott College and another studying the history and lasting importance of Antioch AME Church, Decatur’s oldest Black church. Williams was also a content writer and copy editor for Agnes Scott College’s Revolutionary Historians Organization. In 2020, Williams was inducted into the Alpha Theta Psi chapter of the national history honor society, Phi Alpha Theta. Williams is currently earning her master’s degree in public history at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia. Through this program, Williams is interning with the Georgia Humanities Council as a Graduate Research Assistant helping with promotional and archival projects. Along with her interest in history, Williams is also a professional ballet dancer with Ballethnic Dance Company in East Point, Georgia, where she has danced since spring 2023.