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The mission of the DC Chinatown Digital Archive, in formal partnership with the Stanford East Asia Library and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), is to establish a permanent, community-led "digital home" that preserves and amplifies the living history of the Chinese Community Church and its surrounding neighborhood. By centering the voices of the elders and families who built this enclave in the nation’s capital, the project transforms private memories—the "shoebox archives"—into a collective public legacy that resists cultural erasure. This collaboration ensures that the working-class history of laundry owners, restaurant workers, and church members is treated with academic rigor and national prominence, honoring their stories as an indelible part of the American narrative while providing a sense of psychological anchoring for a displaced diaspora. To ensure this archive remains an authentic reflection of the people it represents, it is guided by the principles of collaborative stewardship, radical accessibility, and ethical care. The Stanford East Asia Library provides the technical infrastructure and bilingual metadata standards necessary for long-term digital preservation, while the Smithsonian APAC ensures the project remains a "living archive" that prioritizes community authority and emotional resonance. By focusing on "behind the archway" stories—the quiet moments in church pews and family kitchens—the project serves as an intergenerational bridge. This dual-layered support system balances professional archival precision with the heart of community storytelling, ensuring that while the physical storefronts of Chinatown may change, the cultural footprint of the community remains searchable, protected, and permanent.