Why the History of CUNY Matters

The history of CUNY is the history of marginalized communities in New York City fighting for equitable access to quality higher education. CUNY's historic mission to educate "the children of the whole people" is sustained by a vibrant community of educators and activists that work to create liberatory spaces through landmark experiments in democratic education. The CUNY Digital History Archive is a participatory project, a counter-institutional archive that centers the experiences of students, workers, faculty, community residents, retirees, and alumni. We take an active approach to documenting CUNY history from the ground up, because we believe that today's students deserve to know the people's history of the people's university.