“We did not foresee opening this fellowship during any of the present circumstances. COVID-19 has forced most archival research online. More importantly, the virus is disproportionately killing Black and Brown people, just as police violence does. At the same time, the same people are organizing and protesting for their right to live. And the Free Library of Philadelphia, the grant custodian, is having its own reckoning over issues of systemic and interpersonal racism, as the Concerned Black Workers of the Free Library have organized to bring these problems to immediate attention and action.”