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IntroductiontoArchivesHIST.5020Spring2018

Prof.ChristopherCarlsmith

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

Today’sAgenda

• Introductionsandattendance• CourseDetails

• ScheduleandDescription(handouts)• Book/Readings• Assignments• FieldTrips• Etc.

• Visitto2UMLArchivesoncampus• HistoryofArchives(mini-lecture)• A(Virtual)ArchivalTour:fromLowelltoRome(slides)

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

CourseDetails

• ScheduleandDescription(handouts)• Book/Readings• Assignments• FieldTrips• CourseWebsite• Echo360• PracticalDetails(breaks,bathrooms)

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

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Whatisanarchive?

• ”archive(s)”:permanentlyvaluablerecordsofpeople,business,&government.

• “Archives”:organizationthatpreservesrecordsforaspecificgroup(town,university,association,business,church)

• “archives”:thebuildinginwhicharchivalmaterialsarekept VaticanArchive

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

Whatisanarchivist?

• Professionalswhoassess,collect,organize,preserve,andprovideaccesstorecordsandinformationwithlong-termvalue.• Vs.Librarian• Vs.RecordsManager• Vs.MuseumCurator• Vs.Historian

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

Whatdoarchivistsdoinanarchive?

• Assess• Acquire• Organize• Describe• Preserve/Secure• ProvideAccess

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HistoryofArchives

• Pre-history• Ancient• Medieval• EarlyModern• 19th century• Modern

TheArchive,GreenwichVillage,NY

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

Pre-historicalarchives

• Oraltradition• Speech,song,chant,dance• Priests,bards,poets,elders• Preservinghistory,myth,lore,andlegend

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

AncientArchives(4000BCE– 500AD)

• Sumer&Mespotamia• Egypt• Persia&Alexander• ClassicalGreece• Rome• HsiaandHanChina

• Clay,leather,wood,wax,• Papyrus,stone….

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MedievalArchives(500AD– 1400AD)

• Fewarchivesinearlymedieval(500-1000AD)or“DarkAges”• Lowliteracy,oraltradition• Barteriscommon• Paperisexpensive• Survivaliskey,notmemory• Ambulatoryarchiveswithkings

• MorearchivesinHigh/LateMedieval(1000-1400)• Codifiedlaws• Writtenjudicialprecedent/evidence• Ecclesiasticalrecords• Banking/commercerecords• Propertyrecords

1/24/18 Introduction&HistoryofArchives

Renaissance/EarlyModernArchives(1400-1800)• Printingpress• Exploration• Secularism• NewMonarchies• Vaticanarchives,monasticarchives,religiousorders

• 1618:SwedishChancellorpreparesarchiveguidelines• 1632:Baldassare Bonifacio,DeArchives

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TheFrenchRevolutionand19th Century

• Establishmentofpublic archivesnationwide• 1789:ArchivesNationales• 1791Mass.HistoricalSociety• 1810:Napoleonlootsotherarchives• 1809-20s:Finland,Sweden,Norway,Denmark,Holland,KingdomofNaplesallcreatearchives

• 1821:Argentinanationalarchive• 1851:England’sPublicRecordOffice• 1899:PublicArchivesCommission(USA)

• Publicationof“national”documentseries

• CalendarofStatePapers(GB)• AmericanStatePapers(USA)

• Provenance&“respectdesfonds”in1840-90

• Maintainoriginalorder• Don’tmixdifferentseries

• Professionaltrainingforarchivists• 1821Ecole desChartes (Paris)• 1854InstituteforAustrianHist’l Research

(Vienna)• 1877St.PetersburgArchaeologicalInstitute

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20th CenturyArchives

• SovietUnionarchives(1917)

• U.S.NationalArchives(1934)• 1st PresidentialLibrary(1938)

• Post-Colonialarchives(1940s-present)• InternationalCouncilonArchives(1950)

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