Welcome to the Septima Clark Learning Center, Highlander’s library and archive in a beautiful new building that houses our radical bookstore; a multi-use room for films, displays, workshops, healing space, or art-making; and has an incredible deck and porch to enjoy the Smoky Mountain views. 

Staff librarians Ashby Haywood, Maranda Perez, and Susan Williams have launched the Southern Memory Workers program in 2024 to foster a network of community-run archives across the region and beyond that can house and share collective memory of local and regional movement legacies. Memory work is a critical intervention for restoring and sustaining our liberation movements through public history tours, personal journaling practices, community-based archives, archival digitization, documentary photography, oral history, zines, and community mapping.

Susan, Ashby, and Maranda are also recovering and digitizing historical documents, building out a timeline of Highlander’s work as we move toward our 100th anniversary, and are redeveloping our onsite book collection to include materials directly related to Highlander’s work and methodologies. Check out the new Soutron site for the Learning Center to access digital materials and resources, including more than 1,200 catalogued books and an easy link to our online bookstore.

Learn more by emailing ashby@highlandercenter.org maranda@highlandercenter.org susan@highlandercenter.org