The purpose of this historical overview of the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) is to examine the CRLA archives to determine phases in the organization's narrative development, to uncover trends, and to ascertain overarching principles in the dialog between the written record and living memory. The two-phase research study began with a thorough reading of all organizational documents in the CRLA archives. The second phase included oral histories featuring former CRLA leaders selected from a wide period. Archival data provided the foundation for the oral history questions, thus providing living dialogues between the written documents of the organization and those involved at the time of their creation. Findings revealed noticeable trends in organizational focus, increasing professionalization in the field and the organization, and a distinctive organizational flavor that sets CRLA apart from similar organizations.