Recovery without shame

When the record is incomplete or the story causes harm.

Handle conflicting dates, absent archives, family disagreement, misattribution, representational imbalance, and an interview that needs to stop.

PauseStop compounding the problem.

OrientName what actually happened.

ProtectSafeguard people, objects, and evidence.

RecoverChoose the smallest useful move.

Failure mode

Two sources give different dates

First move: Retain both, assess source proximity, and mark the conflict.

“The date is unresolved; here is the evidence for each version.”

Failure mode

First move: Pause publication and identify whether the conflict concerns fact, privacy, ownership, or interpretation.

“We will not convert urgency into accuracy.”

Failure mode

First move: Preserve evidence while adding context rather than silently modernizing the record.

“The term appears in the source; our description will explain its context and harm.”

Failure mode

First move: Stop the affected publication path and follow the agreed consent terms.

“Access to a story does not create ownership of it.”

Failure mode

First move: Reopen collaborators, institutions, community labor, and competing accounts.

“Restoring credit should not produce a new erasure.”

Failure mode

First move: Document the search and narrow the conclusion.

“No record located is not the same as no participation.”

A missing fact may remain missing. An interviewee may withdraw. A family may decline publication. The archive is not entitled to every story.

No sales prompts appear on this recovery page.