The Anacostia Community Museum's archives comprise around 1,500 linear feet of materials, with a particular focus on the culture and daily life of Washington, DC. Holdings include the personal papers of individuals and records of non-profit organizations and businesses, as well as over 50,000 photographs, posters, sheet music, audiovisual recordings and other collected materials. A related focus is African American history nationally, due to the museum's history as the Smithsonian Institution's Center for African American History and Culture.
The archives also house five decades of the museum's own community documentation work. This includes photography, oral histories, and exhibition records that frequently represent the earliest examples of research about communities locally and nationally.
Several thousand historic photographs, newspapers, manuscripts, and audio-visual materials are available online.
