Ruth Cody preserves and shares VCU’s story and its next chapters

By Konrad Solberg

Whether handling a vintage photo or a digital file, University Archivist Ruth Cody is a guardian of the past, present and future in equal measure - and a trusted steward for the ongoing story of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Appointed in 2023, Cody is responsible for managing a deep reservoir of historical materials that constitute the University Archives while building present-day relationships that will extend its footprint for new generations.

Ensuring that such history is accessible today and decades beyond means the collecting never stops.

"I can give you the information you need," Cody said. "But 50 years from now, I can't share it with anyone unless I'm collecting it now."

Modernizing and expanding access

Cody is building on the work of the inaugural University Archivist, Jodi Koste, who retired in 2023 after more than four decades with VCU Libraries - a tenure that also included service as senior curator for health sciences. Cody, from her office in James Branch Cabell Library, hopes to further modernize how VCU is remembered, with more precise cataloging and greater online searchability of the archives to promote transparency and community collaboration.

Digging deeper

New records are slowly being added to the public-facing search box. Previously, they were available only to staff. That is the biggest act of transparency. Cody is also coordinating adding relevant materials to Digital Collections. These include a new VCU photographs collection, the Gay Alliance of Students Collection, the Skull and Bones newspapers and departmental histories.

She also wants to highlight voices that traditional administrative records leave behind. As a state institution, VCU is required by law to preserve certain records, which are primarily top-level documents dedicated to finances or major structural changes. They rarely capture the university's culture or daily life on campus.

Cody's background has prepared her for finding the human stories within bureaucratic structures. After earning her bachelor's degree in history and her master's in public history from North Carolina State University, where she specialized in archiving, she spent years managing complicated, restricted government records for the state of North Carolina.

"Government records, especially the early ones, have really great historical information on culture and society, and the people in general," Cody said. "I processed a group of documents about a girls' juvenile school that started in the 1920s, and that was very interesting. It was a particularly unique time period when social work was first coming into play, and ideas of morality and poverty were being developed as part of the science of social work."

Preserving the student perspective

For Cody, administrative files are only part of the equation.

"There really would not be a university without the students," she said. "To not have their voice represented in the best way we can is very one-sided."

Historically, the archives relied on alumni donating personal scrapbooks, yearbooks and other materials decades after their graduation. The digital age, however, has shifted the nature of that pipeline. Physical scrapbooks aren't as popular, and photos, event promotions and memories live on almost entirely through digital platforms and databases.

"Once digital stuff took over, then that basically caused a lot of stoppage for records coming to us," Cody said. "If a student walks away and we don't document things in the here and now, then that portion of history is going to be gone."

To address this, Cody is establishing new processes to streamline archiving digital materials from student groups. She frequently attends student organization fairs and works directly with the groups to collect materials.

During her first year at VCU, she partnered with the Asian American and Pacific Islander student group to build out its history. A team of about 10 students combed through old yearbooks, newspapers and university publications to piece together a history of AAPI students at VCU, and the results were shared at a university symposium.

"I was very much inspired with the work with the AAPI Affinity group and would love to work to do more to capture the diversity of student life on campus," Cody said. "Capturing the various cultures and student actions and interests throughout VCU's history is very important to me, as can be seen through the exhibit I co-curated, 'Voices of Change: Student Advocacy and Action from the Archive.'"

Storytelling that is broad and never-ending

Archiving at a university also requires working closely with faculty and the larger community.

When professors retire, navigating what to keep, such as research notes and papers, can be a delicate task - what seems like a mundane scrap of material could provide substantial insight into the time and culture informing the work. And because VCU's history is deeply entwined with the city of Richmond, Cody must exercise the same attention to detail far beyond campus boundaries.

"I work with community groups like Project Gabriel and the East Marshall Street Well Project to help build their stories," she said, referencing two groups committed to researching and commemorating the enslaved African Americans who helped build VCU and the Medical College of Virginia. "And basically my job is to provide them with the resources we have, then let the community group steer the direction."

Building and expanding an archive is a methodical and relationship-driven process, and Cody relies on department deans, communications officers and marketing teams to act as frontline collectors of documents, photos and digital records. While the mountain of uncatalogued past materials and incoming records is vast, Cody embraces the endless nature of the work.

"I think all archivists have to understand that they're never going to solve all the problems. They'll never be done," Cody said. "As long as we leave our job having made things just a little bit better, then I think we've done good."