The Primary Source

Volume 2 | Issue 3 Article 1

1980 Entire Issue Volume 2, Number 3

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Recommended Citation (1980) "Entire Issue Volume 2, Number 3," The Primary Source: Vol. 2 : Iss. 3 , Article 1. DOI: 10.18785/ps.0203.01 Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/theprimarysource/vol2/iss3/1

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The Primary

Newsletter of the Society of Mississippi Archivists

Volume Two August, 1980 Number Three

ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES NAMED

Dr. Robert M. Warner, 52, director of the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan , has been named Archivist of the ·United States. In making the appointment, General Services Administrator Rowland G. Freeman III said, "I will rely heavily on Dr. Warner for the efficient and effective management of the National Ar­ chives and Records Service, and for maintaining a dialogue with users so that Archival programs can continue to be tailored to meet their needs."

\.Jarner, an archivist, historian and author, will administer the $80 million budget of the National Archives and Records Service and supervise its 4200 employees in Washington , D. Co, the 11 regional centers nationwide and 6 presidential libraries.

Because of the unique requirements of the position of the Archivist of the United States, Freeman established a citizens advisory panel to develop criteria and assemble a roster of highly qualified candidates. They advised the administrator throughout the selection process and worked closely with an executive level govern­ mental selection panel for months.

George M. Elsey, president of the American Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, D. C., headed the ad hoc panel for review of qualifications of candidates which included 11 other scholars , historians and archivists. Other panelists were: Thomas Deahl, MICRODOC, Philadelphia; Theodore Durr, University of Baltimore; Ruth Helmut, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland; James G. Kolleger, Environ­ mental Information Center, Inc., New York City; Richard W. Leopold, Northwestern Hniversity, Evanston, Ill,; Jerome Maddock, Calculon Corp., Philadelphia; Philip P. Ma son, Wayne State University, Detroit; Rodman W. Paul, California Institute of Technology, Pasadem· · ;~nlliam Rofes, IBM, White Plains, N.Y.; Clement E. Vase, Hesleyan University, Middleton, Conn.; and Rabbi Malcolm H. Stren, New York City.

Warner h~s an impressive academic career at the University of Michigan. He began in 1956 as a teaching fellow, and l ater held positions of lecturer, associate professor and professor of history and of library science.

Warner has written extensively in the fields of history and archives. He has served as president of the Society of Am e rican Archivists and the Historical So ciety of Michigan. He held leadership positions in numerous civic and profes­ siona l organizations including the American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians Michigan Academy o f Arts , Science and Letters, American Asso c iation for State and Local History and the University of Michigan Research Club . He was a Society of American Archivists Fellow in 1967 and chairman of the planning committee for the Gerald R. Ford Pre sidential Library.

A native of Montrose, Col., Warner attended the University of Denver and graduated cum laude at Muskingham College in New Co ncord, Ohio, i n 1949 . He served ~ith the U. S. Army from 1950 to 1952 and r eceived a ma s t er's degree in 1953 and a doctorate in history i n 1958 f r om the Univer sity of Michigan. -2-

1981 PROGRAM COMMITTEE NAMED The Primary Source is a quarterly publication of news and ideas President Hafter has appointed the 1981 produced by the Society of Mis­ Program Committee. This committee will h sissippi Archivists, a non-profit the responsibility for planning the annual organization of professional ar­ spring meeting of the Society. The first chivists and interested persons . ing session of the committee will be in J Subscription to The Primary s on on August 21. Please share your ideas Sour ce is included in the Society for next years program by writing the chat membe r ship dues. Membership in­ at the Society ' s mailing address . Commi ttee formation is printed on the last members are: page of each newsletter. H. T. Holmes, Chairman Your contributions are welcome . Manuscript Curator \.Jrite The Primary Source, P. 0. Mississippi Department of Archives and Hist Box 1151, Jackson, MS 39205. Robert J . Bailey Dead I ines for inclusion are: Vice-President Il l (February) January 31 So c iety of Mississippi Archivists 1!2 (May) April 30 II J (August) July 31 Frances B. Bo eckman 11 4 (November) October 3] Archivist Catholic Diocese of Mississippi h t holmes •. ••• •• • . •• .. • .• • Editor ------Virgia Brock-Shedd Archivist FROd THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - To ugal oo College

Th pace of the Society has slowerl con­ Jo Cille Ha fter (ex offi cio) siderably after a very busy spring , but President things are still happening. At the July Society of Mis sissippi Archivists 22 meeting of the Executive Co un ~il , it wRs decided to hold the 1981 annual me e t­ John Sobotka ing in Greenville. Interest was also ex­ An.:hivist pressed ln having a workshop in the fall. University of Mississippi Law Archives As plans develop, you will be hearing · mor about both of these ac tivities. Wn rk will begin soon on the Membership nire tory for 1979-1980. We hope to have lt in the mail b y the middle of September. f f an address correction is needed for a nv members, please let me know as soon AS possible so the correction can be in­ co r po rated into the dire ·tory . While in Atlanta fo r a meeting last stands at 317 (7*5 new members and 242 re­ mnnth , J talked with Les Hough, Presi­ newals) and seems to have leveled off some~ dt•nr of the So ciety of Geo rgia Ar c hi­ Le t us hear of friends interested i n the ar vists . Les invited us to a ioint meeting val profession or in preserving Mississippi ,, f the Society of Georgia Archivist s and documentary heritage. ~~e think we have some th • Society o f Alabama Arc hivis ts i n thing to offer them. The membership year r~ Nnvembe r to discuss the formation of a f r om October 1 t o September 30 . The applica~ r egional associat ion of a r chivists and tion form whic h appears on the last page of int e rested c itizens from several south­ this newsletter is fo r new members. All cur eas t e rn state s. Mississippi is not pre­ r ent members \vill receive memb ership renewa s. •n t l. y a member of any regional group, notices i n Se pte mb e r . ~n we a r e very interest d in talking The So~.:iet y j s a dynamic or ganization con .. a h0nt the idea . You will be hearing more stantly looking fo r ways to s erve you the on this also at a lat e r date. memb ership. Let us know how we can meet your Membership in the Society c urrently needs . -- RET _j_

NEWS AND NOTES

The MIDWEST STATE ARCHIVES GUIDE pro­ and Records Administration. The present ject has entered i nto another phase of NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE has planning. Active participants, the I lli­ been part of the General Services Adminis­ nois State Archives , the Minnesota His­ tration since 1949, putting the nation ' s torical Society and the State Historical historical records in ''the same category as society of Wisconsin, will cooperate in toilet paper and brooms ," according to Mor­ designing compatible computer cataloguing gan ' s statement on S. 2853 (June 19 Congres­ languages. They also will hold seminars s ional Record, pp. S7743-6, daily edition). on indexing and compile a thesaurus for Mor gan ' s statement is useful for its his­ use as a guide. This regi onal a pproach t orica l backgr ound about the National to state records is expec ted to improve Archives and previous attempts t o gai n access through subject i ndexing. During independent status. an earlier phase of the projec t , the from Washington News letter participants planned and tested an auto­ mat ed data bas e sys tem for a chival de­ T e PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL AND MU SEUM scriptions. The system they deve l oped i s COMMI SSION recent l y published a Manual of based on the NHPRC nationa l guide data Archival Techniques , edited by Roland M. base and t he Spindex comput er program Baumann. Funded by NHPRC, this 127-page pa ckage. Max J . Evans, Assistant Direc t or, manual is the r esult of 3 workshops de­ Archives Division, State His torical So­ signed to improve processing and pr eserving ciety of Wisconsin, ser ves as project valuabl e hist oric a r ecords in Pennsylvania director. Write to him at 816 St ate that were held i n 1978 in Harrisburg, Pitts­ Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 , for burg and Wilkes-Bar r e. Copies of the Manual more i n formation . can be order ed from t he Pennsyl vania His­ from Hi stor y New s torical and Museum Commis s ion, Box 1026, Harrisbur g , PA 17120, for $2.75. Le gislation which would inc rease the independence of the ARCHI VI ST OF THE Th e PRESERVATION , RESEARCH AND TES TING UNITED STATES was introduced June 19 , in OFFICE , Library of Congr ess , has recently the Hous e (HR 7628) by Rep. Richardson conduc t ed a s eries of tests, usi ng sodium Pr eyer (D-N C), Govt . Information and Indi­ borohydride , that substantia l ly improve the vidual Rights Subcommitt e Chair , and in folding endurance of paper. The office plans the Senat e (S. 2852) by Sen . Robert Morgan in the near future to conduct two additional (D- NC) . No i mmediate ac tion has been sche­ tests with diethyl zinc (DEZ ) in vapor phase duled on e ither bill. mass deac idification of books, fir st f or 400 HR 7628 would e l evate the Archivist to a volumes and the second , 5000 volumes, t o re­ presidential appointe e subject to Senate solve remaini ng questions on DEZ deacidifi­ confirmation, and vest i n the Archivist cation and to establish large-scale t reat­ all title 44 USC recor ds managemen t a u­ ment runs. thority. The bill is designed to insulate The Library recently published Polyester the po sition and place the Archivist in Film Encapsulation, an illustrated pam phlet a better position to r etrieve feder al re­ which provides basic informati on about the cords retained by an i ndividual such as application of polyester film encapsulation former Sec retary of State Henry Ki s singer , t o the cons ervat i on of library materi a l s . according to the statement by Preyer in the from LC Information Bulletin June 19 Congressional Record (pp. H5430-31, daily edition) Preyer hopes tile bill will "A New Archi vist for a New Decade" is also "serve to · stimulate a thought f ul and the theme of the eighth annual wo rkshop of serious discussion of the issues ass ociated the SOCIETY OF GE ORGIA ARCHlVISTS to be Wi th a view espoused by ma ny histori an s , held Novemb e r 29-21. Th e workshop, co­ &enealogists and other s cholar s - that the sponsor ed by the SOCIETY OF ALABAMA AR­ ational Archives should be an i ndependent CH IV ISTS, \-Jill be he ld on the campus of entity, separate and a pa r t f rom GSA." Emory un ·versit y in Atlanta. Dr. Ru th The Senate bill would do j ust tha t - es­ He lmut, president of the So ciety of Am e r ican tablish an independent Na t ional Arch ives (cont. p. 4) News No t es , cont .

1 r chivists , \vilJ sp ak at a dinner A workshop wil l r over electronic and non­ me ting on Novembe r 20. On Novemb r 2 1. e lectronic storage media. A major s ession other spertker s f r om Ohio , New York, No r t h will explore available alterna t ives in-~ Ca r olina , So uth Carol i na Florida , Ala bama , fiJ min g. Technological advances i n archiva~o Tenn ssee And ~eo r gi a will disc uss ar chival conse rva tion will be t he topic of another educ3t i on , bui lding planning , publications , panel presentation. Twen t y- f our of the micr ofi l m techni ques and t echn ol ogy , disas­ seventy sessions wi l l addres s the top two ter prepar edness , new rel ations hips amo ng concerns indentifi ed by the memb ership. archi vists and the i mpact of t he computer Fort y-six other session s will address a va­ on arch ives . For furt her information con­ riety of archival concerns . For more infor­ t Art t he Societ y of Georgia Archivis t s , mation writ e The So ciet y of Am erican Archi­ P. O. ~ox 261 , Ge orgia State Unive rs ity , vists , 330 S. W lls Street , Suite 810, At l an ta , Geo r gia 3030 3. Chica go , Illinois 60606.

HISSISS TPPI DEPARTHENT OF ARCHTVES AND NOTE : An ·income tax deduct ion may be allOWt lllSTORY staff me mbers ret:ently parti ipat d for e xpenses of ed ucat ion (inc l ud ing travel, i n sp dal a r chival e d11 eation programs . meals , lodging) un dertaken to maintain and 0\v i ght Harris , Off lcial Re cords Ar ch i vi st , i mpr ove professional skills (see Treas. Reg, attended t he 45th Modern Archives Inst i t ut e l . Hi2 . 5; Coughlin v Commissioner , 203F 2nd : sponso r ed by NARS i n Ha s lt ington , DC. lV:ill i Am IIa nn a spent 3 days in J un e at NA RS The AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR STATE AND in int n ~ i ve s tudy of the archival pra - LOCAL HISTORY wi ll hold its annual meeting ! t ices of the Mo tion Pic ture and So und Re­ New Orleans , Se pl. 7-10. Amon g the proble. cording Branch . to be addressed by t he program's sessions will be volunteers, security , membership, The L!4th annual m et ing of THI : SOCIETY money . cfl lJ personnel management. Fo r more OF AMERI CAN ARC HI VISTS tvi.ll be he .l I Sept . information write AASLH, 1400 Eight Ave., 30 - Oc t. 3 i n Cincinn a ti, Ohio . Major pro­ South, Nashville, Tenn . 37203. gr am sessions will add ress strat egies fo r in fluencing f und i ng authorities - state The COUNT RY MUSIC FO UNDAT ION LIB RARY AND legislator s , libr a ry admi n istrators and MEDIA CENTER ha s opened an a ud i o r estoratior admini strators i n general. The acq uisition laboratory equipped to restore sound on pre­ of external funding will r eceive consider a ­ stereo recordings to its original quality. Lion in two regula r pr ogram off rings , as Fo und a t ion Dire tor Bill I vey expl ai ned tbrl we ll as i n a s pecial workshop on the prep­ planned uses of t he laborat ory : t o prese~e a ration of gr ant proposals. Additional the sound on ma t e r i als that ar e deterioratir pr og ram sessions will s ug gest means of such as at:et a te r adi o t ran scription, in the ma king be tter use of resources in per­ library ' s t: ollect ions ; t o s timulat e there­ forming archival funct ions: conservat i on, r e lease of histor i cal mat eri al in the countt processing, appraisa l and refer ence . f i l d; and thro ugh l icensing , leasing and Th e meeting proR r am also provides o ppor­ othe r arran gements , t o r e issue some histor~ t !mi ties to keep up wit h t echn ologica l r ecordings on t he founda tion' s own label. c·hanges affecting archi val wo rk. Au t o­ Country Music Foundation Librar y and Media mAted syst ems fo r a r chives and r ecords Ce nter is l ocat ed at 4 Music Square East, ma nagement tv i ll be consider ed i n a ma ­ Nashville , Tenn es see 37203. i e r ses s i on. Prac tical wo r kshops wi l l f r om History News address t he us e of micro- and mini­ com pute r s i n a r c hival admin istra t ion . The NATIONAL AR CHI VE S AND RECORDS SERVICE hi The administrat ion of ma chine r eadabl e established the n ew posit i on of p r eservat~~r re ~6r d s at universities will be officer. Th e person chosen for the job ~i t he t opic of a panel s ession [nvento­ provide overall direction and coordinationd r yi ng and sched ul i ng of ma chine r eadable for the Ar chives ' preservation programs ~S recor ds and appraising ma c hine readAbl e report direc tly t o the Archivist o f the • r ecor ds a r e a lso on the meeting a genda. from History News -- 5-

THE EDITOR NOTES -

The publication of this issue marks the completion of my first year as editor of the society's newsletter. This time has brought me into contact with many people, whose gen­ erosity with their time and thoughts have filled the pages of The Primary Source. I cannot saY thank you enough for all of the support given this publication. Be warned, however, that my inadequacies in thanking you do not in the least diminish my expectation of your continued help ! The continued production of any publication of the nature of The Primary -source depends upon an interested and vocal readership. At the Executive Council meeting in July, President Rafter was authorized to appoint a Committee on The Primary Sourc~ to make proposals for its future direction and to investi­ gate possible sources of additional financial support. In a very democratic share-the­ power move , Jo Cille appointed William Hanna, MDAH Senior Manuscript Curator, as chariman of the committee and authorized him to a ppoint the rest of the committee! The appointments were occupying his attention at press-time, so that's all we have on that, folks, except that we hope to have a statement from the chairman of the Committee on The Primary Source in The Primary Source next time. ·

One aspect of the newsletter the committee intends to talk about i s content. A~ regular readers are aware of by now, TPS is not really a newsletter - how much news can be news in a four-times-a-year publication? And as we all have noticed, or will by the time you finish this issue, many of the articles appearing in the newsletter would perhaps be more suitable in a journal format. Nmv , a point not all of us may be aware of: The SMA only has enough money to do \vha t we are doing now. So, indeed, the Committee on The Primary Source does have a dilemma to contemplate.

This issue, however, only has one problem : It's about to burst its staplewith information. El eanor HcKay ' s talk before last s pring's SHA meeting is printed herein for those who were not at the meeting. Handling the ma sses of paper created by everyone these days (not just politicians) is a very serious archival problem. Your attention is directed to Eleanor 's approach to this problem with congressional papers. Tom Pardo is inaugurating a series of ~rti c les on the classic arc hival literature with his overview of four archivists who WPr e instrumental in formulatin g our modern concepts of arc hival practices. And, intro­ du cing yet another new feature, Patricia Gallmvay reviews a published translation of some French archival mat erials. Pe rhaps some heavy reading, but while the weather is hot, settle down in front of the air conditioner with your favorite archival ade and peruse the latest offeri ngs of our colleagues. -- hth

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------~ ~---- - h- lOOK REVIE\..J - RE FERENCE REQUESTS? ! r.i1 rl A Brasseaux, ~ Comparative View of Fr•nc h Louisiana, 1699 and 1762 : The Jour­ AnyonP who has ever worked with refer-~ n . ~l': o [ Pierre Lc:_ MOYT\ ~ ' I~v ille and and attempted to serve all patrons with -:!_~ n-.Ja c ques-Blaise E ' Abbadie Lafayette , friendliness and grace has surely felt h La .: CPnr-er for Lou1siana Studies, 197

~iversity of Southern Mississippi ~cCain Graduate Library

By donation, the personal library of Mr. along with the Bollingen edition of African c1eanth Brooks, consisting of 2,500 volumes. Folktales and Sculpture. Some of the more val- ~r. Brooks has been one of the most eminent uable books--- in this period are Hemingway ' s of American critics. Along with Robert Penn Green Hills of Africa , Nabokov's Real Life of warren, Brooks has been one of the signifi­ Sebastian Knight , in the scarce first issue-,­ cant factors in shaping the reading habits a group of Robert Frost's Christmas Keepsake and the critical judgments of students for poems and the first 8 volumes of the Southern the past half century. Review. The composition of the library is roughly Finally , there a re about 350 volumes of o ut­ 0 follows; There is a section of 18th of-print and rare literature textbooks and century books, i ncluding a number of poet­ works on Southern history and literature by ical miscellanies, Wharton's English Poet ry, such authors as William Osler, Reynolds Price, !174; Beatty ' s The Minstrel, 1771; Fingal's Kate Chopin, J. C. Ha rris and some lesser Macpherson, 17 6~an almost complete s et of known authors . joseph Ritson; Pilkington 's Dictionary of ~ ~ters; Edward Jones Musical & Poet ical Add itional accreti ons have been made t o ~licks of the Welsh Bards, 1794; Shen- the de Grumman Collection of Children's 1 tone s WOrkS; Butler' s Hud i bras; the S::ee­ Literature. vens edition of Shakespeare, representing the beginnings of modern Shakespeare crit­ icism; Dodsley's Collection of Plays; Hoggs 1 Jacobite Relics of Scotland ; Percy 1 s Reli ques; The Ta"'tl.er;-and Ellis' Speci­ ~£! English Poetry. Of especial inte­ rest is Hau Kiou Choaan, l• vols. , London, 1761, the first Chinese novel to be pub­ lished in England . The 17th century is represented by a copy of Il Pastor Fido, 1643. Mil ton, Shakespeareand Samue_l __ Johnson are represented in de~th. Among the Johnsoniana is a rare deluxe edition of Birbeck Hill 1 s In the Footsteps of Samuel Johnson. ------=. -=-=-.:.=.::..=.:..:. A sizeable number of works are in the omantic period , including books by and ~o ut Coleridge, Byron, Keats, Sh e lley and Hordsworth. Included is a run of SCHOLAR'S PLEA he Keats-Shelley memor i al Bulletin, and a first edition of Scote's Kenilworth. Biographer of Kather ine Anne Porter is There are approximately 1300 volumes o f seeking information about one lONE FUN­ ~ lles lettres, consisting of books by CHESS from Mississippi. Orphaned, edu­ and about the major English and American cated in New Orleans convent and married aut hors of the 20th century. Among the Newell Porter around 1900. Lived subse­ ~ U thors represented in depth are Auden, quently in San Antonio and eventually in , ·Buckley, Cheever, Dickey, Fitzgerald, California. Any information gratefully :, M. Ford , E. M. Fo rster, Graves , O'Hara, received by: · H. Lawrenc e, Wyndham Lewis, Banokov, /lker Percy, Huxley, Pound, Spender and Joan Givner allace Stevens. There are approximately Associate Professor of En gli sh 1 shelves of modern Shakespeare criticism University of Regina ~ the major critics such as Bayley (Lost Regina, Saskatchewan ~~Symbolism), Bowra, and Empson , Canada S4S OA2 K- .

NHPRC NE\-JS -

D a r Ed ito r :

We have noticed that a number o f r e gi onal gional association, d) monitoring the pro~ organizations have been considering the of the projec t thr ough written repor ts , pr pros and cons of applying for grant funds sessions or site visits. Where agreeable to to carry out projects of regional impor­ the inte r est ed parties , the cost s for this tance . This matter has been raised by re­ of involvement by the regional organizatiOQ gional organizations within steering com­ the conduct of a project could be included­ mittee meetings , in program sessions and the g rant budget . The grant processs can be 1 in questions posed to candidates for re­ me ans to address important issues without b gional association offices. It appears to ing undue administrative strain on the reg us that discussions have focus ed largely asso iation . on whether or not the regional organiza­ The approach suggested above assumes that tion is equipped to administer a grant regional o r ganlza tions hav as on of their pr oject directly and on potent ial dupli- l e gitimate roles some act i ve involvement in ation of efforts o f national organiza­ a rchival developments beyond those which can tions . be achieved through traditional me e ting and We at NHPRC hope that regional associa­ workshop formats . Perhaps NHPRC views regioau rions and other professional groups will associations within this context because t~ uot limit their discussion of potentially seem aptly suited to fill the gap between nseful grant projects t o the areas o f ad­ i nsti tutional pro i ects, which rar ely involve ministrative burden or duplication of ef­ ac tivities or findings of value beyond t he f rt. We believe that neither of these grantee ' s partic ular interes ts , and projects presents particularly serious obstacles. sponsored by national or ganizations whose Regional associations are in an excellent focus is understandably limited t o broad position to foster and influence the issues of i nter est to t heir member s . Signifi­ d ve lopment of ideas for proj ects of par­ cant problem-solving and deve lopmental p~ tic ular value to the associat ion or a j ects which fall betwe en t hese two poles fre­ substantial number of its members . Should quently f ail to reach the proposal stage for a proposal concept emerge as the product lack of an interested s ponsor. o f disc ussion among members, perhaps We invit the regional archival associatUm& t hrough the work of a formal grants com­ to meet and talk with NHPRC staff over the mittee , it seems probable that one insti­ coming months to explore these matte rs further lution within the region would be wi l ling and we hope that you will consider c reating~ to sponsor the propos al and a c t as the organizati>nal mechanism to continue to in­ proj ec t base . This s eems partic ularly true f luence the de velopment of important projects fnr development compon en ts ; appli c ants in a s ystematic way . other than the r egional asso iation itself Sincerely, rould probably be found for conference Larry J . Hackman, Oir~t anrl planning type projec ts as well. Records Program Th e re are a variety of pot ential working NHPRC r elationships between a regional archival o rganization and an institution in the r egion which has responded to the r egion­ ------al's urging to sponsor an important pro­ iect . The regional ' s efforts could be Review, cont . limit ed to suggesting a needed proj ec t · 1'he annotation points to a vast range Hnrl f inding a sponsor . More detailed le­ cop~es . Ul• archival mat er i als now available in micro ' vels of involvement include a ) having the a nd the publication as a whole will serve t:.il r e gional ' s grant committee work with the awaken interest in a period for which the a appl i cant in outlining or even drafting able historical materi als are so rich as tO r t· he proposal, by naming a subcommitt e or 1 task force to identify and work with a n s ha me the relatively tiny body of histor!r.. searc h that has been done on these materi a ppl i cant on the specific propos al , ·) Patric i a Galloway SII P-Pe st ing a projec t advisory committee MDAH nr cons ultants f rom memb e rship of the r e - -9-

RECENT LARGE CONGRESSIONAL COLLECTIONS - MAKING THEM MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR RESEARCH By Eleanor McKay, Curator Mississippi Valley Collection Memphis State University

Since the 1930s, approximately, col­ University in this capacity in Senato·r Sten­ lections amassed by United States senators nis' office, and John Sobotka similarly and representatives have ballooned in size, represented the University of Mississippi in but not necessarily in information content. acquiring Senator Eastland's records. M the telephone has become the accepted This first-hand knowledge enables the vehicle for rapid transmission of impor­ archivist to recognize the immensity of po­ tant information, politicians and their wer and the immediacy of national and world constituents quickly have adopted the ben­ affairs that permeates the communications efits of the new technology, which unfor­ media of Washington, DC. People on Capitol tunately leaves no historical record of Hill have access to hours of WATS telephone the business transacted over the phone. lines, free microfilming and indexing of con­ Ther e may be a letter to follow-up on the gress i onal r ecords, the opportunity to wine oral communication, but very often this and di ne with national and world notables, lette r helpfully reads, "This letter is among many other privileges not accorded most to confirm our telephone conversation of American citizens. And Washington newspapers, yesterday and to inform you that I have radio and television keep their audience mi­ taken the action we agreed upon." Con­ nutely informed of the day-to-day changes in stituents have also contributed to swol­ a whole host of nat ional and world affairs len congressional collections in their and crises. That a ccessibility to power and in cr easing use of their elected repre- information often escapes documentation in entatives as a buffer or citizen advo­ mod ern congressional collecti ons . The archi­ cate with such federal agencies as the vist who has experienced the headiness of Soc ial Sec urity Administration for help that access ibility can adroitl y design an in ge tting retirement benef its; the Vet­ oral history program that el icits discussion erans Administration for continued r e­ and analysis of t hat power. Often even the habili tation of a disabled Vietnam- e ra archivist \vorking several weeks in a Capitol vete r an; or the Immigration and Natural ­ Hill offi ce finds the hometown hopelessly ization Service, to speed the inunigra­ dull upon returning to it. tion of a friend or relative into the First-hand expe rienc e with the routine of United States . a maj or political of f i ce also sens itizes the As our senators and congr e ssmen have arc hivis t to the subtle, unspoken realities beco m increasingly r esponsive to t he of power. Absur d though these examp l es may n eds of an increasi ngly demanding con­ seem out of the contex t of individual state stituency, however, the ir collections politics, in some states the legalization of ~ve gradually become onl y dim mirrors the public sale of oleomargarine has been a of t he politician's important lobbying vital issue, seen as a threat to the state's functions for his constituents and also vital dairy industry. Elsewhere, correspon­ of the routine operations of the offices dence from heavy equipment dealers needs to on Capitol Hill. be carefully read, since prominent politi­ Th e archivist fortuna te enough to a c­ cians may have started their careers in fam­ quire a recent congressional collection ily-owned heavy equipment dealerships. needs to develop a first-hand sense of The oral history program that does not delve the operations of an office on the Hill, into these local political realities fails either through participation in the of­ t o serve the interests of historical research. fi e that created the collection or in a Most recent congressional collections pose comparable office. Ideally, reposito ries a major research obstacle in that the physical ~n work out regular disposal schedule s, bulk of the collection makes the researche r so that at the end of every term or every either go frantic or reckless in the search Y ar, the archivist wi l l travel to Washing­ f or valuable information . We, as archivist s , ton to select and pack records f o r trans­ a s the keepers of t he hi storical records, have fer to the repository. Jim Shoalmi r e unt il an obliga tion to use our professional t raining tecently served the Mississippi State (cont. p . _!_Q) - 10-

ConRressional Collections, cont.

to reduce these collections to a manage­ are issues and concerns reflected in most able size. Not only must we make the col­ contemporary onp,ressi onal collections. 4 lection useable enou)!h for research use, t ew letters or phone cal s to fellow arc~, but we must also insure that ther remains vists can rapidly comoare collections aQ4 room in our stacks for future accessions de termine the uni~ueness of congressional of r eal and immediate research value . So series. often the argument in favor of unweeded It is relatively easy to make a profess c ongressional collections is that future ally valid judgement that a series is ro~ research trends are unpredictable and we and homogeneous. The tricky question is t archivists wouldn't want to obstruc t these third one: Is the series bulky enough to r esearch trends. If, however, a repository rant item-by-item weeding'? c lutters up its stacks with 152 c ubic feet The definition of bulkiness relates to 1 of the records of a one-term r e presentative large body of variables. For instance, u (1965-1967) like George W. Grider of Mem­ this the only ongressional collection you~ phis and then 92 cubic f eet (196 7-1975) of r epository is likely to acquire ? How many his successor, Dan H. Ku ykendall, plus othe r cong ressional c ollections are avaiU. po s sible hundreds of cubic feet of a con­ to researchers in your state or region? a­ tPmporary senator, than that repository Mu ch stack space is projected for the ar~i ·ommits s uicide in terms of its original in the future·? What i s your collecting poli An rl dive rsified collecting policy. Some­ Is the a c quisit i on of this and perhaps 110re dAy, another Faulkner co r r espond ent's col­ cong ressional colle ·tions likely to cripph l ection will be offered to the r e oository, the balanced, overa ll development of your o r the r ecords of the citv ' s public t ele­ repository's archiva hold ngs ? How is the vi s ion studio, or the r ecords of the local collect i on likely to be used at yo ur reposi policemen's union, and the reposi tory will tory? Does the local un iversity have a fac have to r e iec t the offered collection for m mb e r t rai ni ng gradnate s tudents in the lark of storane sna ·e. chanics of r1 s~ ar ch i nto the reJa ionship Tn my article in the Arler_ic;m Archivi~_£ between ronular opinion and federal legis­ (.Tul v, 1978), T \Yrote of a method o f samn- lation? Are your lo .al historians oriented 1 i n ~ or weeding congress ional co ll ections to antiquarian and en ea logical r esearch thAt T think is more valid than the sub­ rath r than t n the study of more recent his i ec tive , idiosyncratic we ed ing that often tory? Th e truthful answers to these questi nc c u·rs. Be fore the archivist dec ides to relate t o he defi nit i on of bulk for a gh e!1ll) ] o· this method of sampling b · se ::l on s eries in a congressional collec tion. At ~a t he mati ~a ll y , random] -se lected i tems , this time, I hesitate to give a r .ady fo tl 1c' archivist must · arefully s tudv a c on­ lik0 if the series contains 100 or more cub g r essional collection and look fo r three feet , d i v icle by x to dete rm i ne how many cub :hararteristics in its ser ies . To be so feet to retain a f t e r weeding. sampled, a s e ries must contain 1) routin e ~v e as a profession need to test reasonabl mar e ial 2) of a r e latively homogeneous our new methodological theories befor~ we nature and 3) he bulky in physical size . ad opt them wh olesale. We probably all have in effe~t , the ratio of valuabie r esearch seen excellent colle tions of alphabetical information is inverse l y related to the s ubj ec t f ile s ruined 20-30 years ago by bulk nf the scdes. An xample i s a ser'ie proc ~s sing when the t h eo ry was that all o f c onstitu~nt correspondence r e plete with co rrespondence should be pulled ont and s uc h requests as copies of the C•)ngres­ not r1gorou ~Rr it o l building, or help in getting ~ r ­ experiment ed \.Jith prior to its adoption. It r· r-> rt ed at l,J,~ st Point or a no ther lJ. S. is hette r that a few collections s hould :,e mi.li.Lary academy . Even i f t he series C:ll.so pruce. s ed as test collections and their rr ontains more pe rsonally sens i t ive ir: t• a­ sults evaluated, as archival s u c sses or ~ mation, c~ch a s r ~ q uE · st s fo r he l p with as fa i Lur s , than that \ve wh olesale adopt ~" !!L·d i care paym t. nts or reactions pr u-and ­ ne\v method.· that r1ay res J] t i n irretrfevabf. rtm s :Jch i ss ue s c: s a!Jortion n r .em?. nrl :'tttred col1ec ions, no lnnge r reflecdve IJ fn r we r ~ith the Ayft tollah ' s Ir .n , rh~se ( con t • P • 11 -11 - congressional Collections. cont. the organization their c reator d ~ve loped. uf random m.tm,., ers. the wo rker can start we must rememb =r that a rP.Se3rcher learns with any numb er on any page of numbers. not only frol'l the informat:jon contained in It is permissihle to uRe only the l.qst 2 a collection, but also from the way that a digits of t he 5 digit nunbers from a r andom collect:i on is organized . Too often histo­ number chart. For example, s t arting with any rians are totally ignorant of the manipu­ number on the page, the worker s elect:; the lation that a collection endures f rom number 59823. Uslng only the last 2 numbers, hostile heirs, car e les~ rr:ovj ng comoany t he wor!.:e r goes on to item 23 in the first employees and uncritical archivists . Ar­ carton, selects number 23 to save, P'Jts chivists have little control over the nUI'lbers '!.. 4- 2 7 for dif.card, saves number 28, former, but we a : }east can be r i gorouslf and so on until the carton has been entirely precise in our haniling of collect ions. sampled. Archivists need to develop sta~ car ds For the second carton , the worker. goes back hr sampling 111c·dern, bulky collect ions . to the rando n numbe chart to select a [Umber Through my work with modern congressional next t o 59823 , going either up , down , l eft , collec tions, I have proposed we sample right o r diagonally v er from that number. rou tine, homogeneous, bulky series in this Suppose the next number ove r is 82594; if type of modern collecti on using random the second c arton lacks 94 items , skip t his numh er ·concepts developed by mathemati­ numb er f rom the chart and move on to t he cians and widely used in othe r d isc t­ next one. If it is 05203 , start sampling at plines of learning. As is iscussed in my item 3 in ca rton 2 , and so on . 1978 article, statisticians concur t hat This me thod has umero s adv ntages . The series marked by the three charact ristics valuable time of the professional archi vist mentioned above 111ay be sampled down to i s not wa sted on mec anical wo rk s uitable 20 % or less of the bulk received f r om the for a l e ss s pecial'zed or ker. The profes­ do nor. Actually, t hose blessed with a bet­ sional i s not bor fa ong eeks spe t ter kn owledge of the a pplication of the on this mechanical wo rk. The work is accomp­ statistical techniques to historical re­ lished evenly and s ystema tically. Too often, search material can apparently reduce a we sample large series by saving only that series down to as l ittle as 2% of its which is i nteresting or unusual or of a size or i.p,inal universe, wi thout affecting fu- that easily fits into a standard- sized folder ; ure research use of the series. Reduction conventional items that convey information tn 20% of the original bulk seems drastic about the rout ine nature of congressional enoup, h , however, until the validity of operations a re usually discarded as unin­ this Method h~s been t ested and ana yzed teresting. The less trained \vorker assigned more systematically. to number and sample bulky series can also I f t he archivist decides to weed a rou­ ,.,rork to the accompaniment of a radio , turned tine , homogeneous and bulky series of a softly enough to avoid distracting other s con gressional collection, weeding by ran­ in the rrocessing room engaged in tasks re­ dom numbers is both easy and relatively quiring more concentration. quick. Ths archivist shows the student Befor e this method of weeding has proven ass istant or paraprofess i ona l or volun­ i tself t hrough experimentation, t he archivist teer t he cartons to be sampled . In ach does need t o go through the 80% marked for earton, the worker then sequentially num­ discard and subjec tively sort through that hers each item number 1 through X, putting material. There may be i tems that should the number in pencil between brackets on remain in the ollection, such as a letter the verso of the iten. Brea ks between fol­ from Sirhan Sirhan c om plaining about some de rs are not i mportant in this process. aspect of th ~ American political system and An item is defined as a single sheet of dated several years before the a ssassination Paper or a group of papers bound, s tapled of Ro bert F. Kennedy . Items f rom the 80% or othen-lise attached as a single unlt group, that the archivist decid ES to retain of i nf ormation. At each new cart on , the fo r s ub jective reasons , must bear an identi­ Worke r begin e to numb er th items again fying mark, suc h as a check mark, next t o At t he number 1. Using a pa~e from a hook (cont . p. !..?_) - 12 -

Congressional Collections, cont.

the bracketed item number of the verso of tors , Senate staffers, archivists, and ht rhe sheet. Once the retained item returns rians. To follow up on the conference, tb to its original place in the collection, Organiza tion of Am erican Historians has f uture users of the collecti on must kn ow dertaken to secure grant support for pro if that item belongs to the s tatistically als formul nted there , including the preN va lid sample or not. tion of a manual f or senators concerning And, of c ourse, the archivist mus t ex­ model r ecords systems, and of a manual f plain this method of arrangement in the archivists on model arrangement and desc scope and content section of the register t ion of s enatorial collections received to this collection. Researcher s n eed to repository. It is to be hoped that the ~ know about our method of arrangement be­ >·J ill soon anno unce that grant funding fo fore they begin their analysis f the col­ t hes e man uals has been awarded. Reflectia lection. To date , there are few we ll-known o tlte comp osition of the 1978 meeting, S ground rules governing the creation or pro­ s t affer s , archivists and hi s torians will c essing of a congressional collection , so together to prep re these manual s. tt either the a r chi vist nor the researche r Fi nally , in the nate the Office of th r: An make any valid, fast ass umpt o s . Ser geant-At-Atms and the Offic e of the Se Va rious sources in the past have offered tary are prepar ing a staff man al on s en model arrangement s c hem es for congr essional availabl e to s enato rs and their staffs. ! collections. Both the Library o f Congress man ual will premi ere l at e r this year for And tbe National Archives prepared manua l s i n the 3-4 day or ientation sessions offer for the establ ishment of f i l i ng systems i n to newly-elec t ed senators and t heir staff Capitol Hill offices, Both sets o f manuals The manual will i ncl ude separate chaptera s uffered by thei r basis n a lack of first­ r ecords management and on ma i arra nge m~ hand experience with the operations of a Di c: k Baker will recommend t ha t repositori rongress ional office, and both f aile t o acqu1r1ng s enator i a l collections receive offer gui dance ·oncerni ng mach i ne r eadablP copies of the manual , but as of April , 19 r ecords. To my knowledge, the most r ecent it is not clear if copies of this man ual ed ition of the NARS manual by Wayne Grover be general ly available. (If a r eposit ory a ppeared in 1958 . accepts a senatorial collect i on which has The Offic of the Secretary of the IJ. S. been mi crofilmed and indexed by t e syste Senate established the Senate Hist orical now offe red as a f ree service t o Senate o Office in 1975; Richard Baker has served fices , t he repository must be familiar wi as the Senate Historian sine then. He and the pr ogram and the software and ha rdware his staff are currently pr pari ng manual it utili zes . Th e collection can only be u concerning arrangement nd description of at th~ archives if the archi ves has the P th~ records of con gr essional committees . per technology ava ilable. ) His office also has a program t o ]ocate In short, ther e are ways f o r archivists senatorial collections, and they offer ex­ ma nage the large congr essional collection tremely knowledgeable information on the created in modern times , and we need toe A<:quisition, processing and use of sena­ periment with them. Otherwise , our reposi t o rial collections. Dick 1 s phon e number is tor ies must either refuse t o a ccession bU (202 ) 224-6900. I f you are involved wit h collect ions or become glutted with papers a senat o rial collec tion, do cont act this questionable long-term research va lue . An office, which is only too happy to pro­ congr essional colle ctions are not the onl vide acc urate information and advic e . bulky accessions availabl e to t he archive (There is, as yet , no compa rable offic e The re are also r ej ect contract and grant · f r the U. S. House o f Represent tLve s , p lication files in the university a r chive also, though one can gen eralize from e x­ ~ r i evane e files of labor unions; and unu peri ence with Senatorial coller tions.) s c ripts and r e sea r ch files of local tele­ In September, 1978 , the Senat e Historical vision s t ations. We as a pro f ession must Offit:e sponsored a conferenc e on "He s earch l earn t o man age al l t ypes of bulky , rout~ !J se and Disposition of S£>nators ' Papers , " homo gen eous ser i es offe r ed to reposito ri~ he ld in a Senate off i ce building in Was h­ and perhaps sampling using random numberS i ngt on . Speakers and audien .e included sena- offers vi able sol ution. - 1 -

ARCHIV ES CLA SSICS AND Cl-ASS I CISTS : AN OVERVI EI.V Ry Thomas r. . Pa rdo Pr ogram Officer Soci ety of Ame rican Ar c hivists

I believ e it was in an introdu c t o ~ y a r chives c ourse taught by Ruth W. Helmuth at Case ~e st e rn Re s e rve University that I firs t came unon t he n ames of s ignificant arc hival theorist s Jike S. Huller, J . A. Fe ith, R. Fruin, Sir H:i l~ry J e n kins on, E ~n s t Posne r and The odore R. 'che l l enberg . This l ist of not a ble a rchival figu~ e s did not ~e gi ster i n my mind as e asi l y a s nrominent historians such as von Ranke , Bancrof t , Tur n e r a nd Beard , y et I realiz e d during this course that the ir c ontri butions to the a r chi val prof e s sion we re e qual to those of other fields . I t i s e ssent i a l i n this age of v olum inous a c cess i on s , s hrinki n g space and budgetary rPs tra ints that we pause mome nta r ily t o t h ink about n u ~ archival her i t age and to see how it ha s influenced pract ically every act ion that w take as a r c h i vis ts today . Th e a r c hival pro­ fpss ion do e s ha ve a " us a ble past ." Ma n y times , howe ver , ~.;re simply do not consi der its effect upo n o ur profe s s i onal lives . Ou r r e s pons ibilitie s c once rnin g the care a nd preservation of ,1rch i ves and manus crip t s are c on fined large) y t o pr oble ms of echnique and f unc tion r ather tha n to principle and theor y . We a cknowledge the centrality of a r chival theory in our work as we ll as the contribut i ons of those wh o o uld right f ully b e known a s "archival pioneers," nut .i t seems as if we only r eco gnize thes e i-deas and the pe ople who creat ed them on formal or special oc casions, suc h a s at a n a r ch ivist s ' banque t, a regional archiv e s meetin g o r a r l flSS . \Vith t his a nd subs e quen t essa y s on 11 c lassic" arch ival l ite r atur e and p r omi n en t archiva l theorists, it is hoped that the past wi l l c om e a l ive , and we wi l l be able to understand more

compl e tely.how4 certain ideas have evolve d and how the se i d eas hav e an important role to play no t only fo-r today but for the future as well. This e ssay, which will serve a s an overview for mo re in-depth \.;rrit i n gs on a r chiva l l ite r a ture , wi ll analyze some of t he theoret i cal con­ tributions of the "Dut e h arc hivists " (a ge n e ~i c t e rm used in this paper t o r efe r t o Mulle r , ~ ith and Fruin), Sir Hi l a r y Jenkins on, Er n st Posner and Theodore R. Sche l lenberg a s revealed in the ir c aree rs and \-Jritings. The i nt e n tion of s uc h an analysis is t\-Jo- fold : 1) to de­ sc ribe certain ideas which were pre va l ent in European a r c hi val thi nking o f t h e l at e 19th and earl y 20th centuries, a s i llustrated in the 1wrks of the Dut c h archivists and Jen kinson ; an d 2) t o show how these ideas we r e la te ~ a d a pt e d to American archi val con ditions, as highli gh t ed in the writings of Pos n e r and Sc hel l e nberg . *** *****************

Hhen one be gins to trace t h e orig in s o f mod e rn arc hival theory and techni qu e , it i s e s s en ­ t i al to reco gnize t h e i mporta nc e o f a book publishe d in 1898 entitled Manual fo r t h e _Arran ge­ ~~ a n~ De s c r i ptio n £i Arc hives . Writ t en on be hal f o f the Nethe r l ands Associat i on o f Arc h i ­ Vi s t s by S. Mull e r (1848-1 922), .1. A. Feith (1858-1913 ) and R. Fruin (1857-1935), the Manual \'spous ed · a theor y of archival admini strat ion whic h d e monstrate d a relationship bet1veen mo d e rn ~co rd-k ee pin g prac tices and traditiona l concepts such a s provenance , r e spect d es fonds an d continuo us c ustody . Although this pub l i cation wa s wide l y a c cla imed by European arc h ivist s , it wa s not translated into English un t il 1940. Th e time o f the English edition could n o t have been more apropos for Am e rican arc h i v ists , howe v e r , bec ause it c ame when the Na t i onal Ar hives was in its early stages o f de ve l o pm ent . Hen c e, the Manual not only l e f t i t s ma rk Upo n the European archiva l c ommunity , b 11t i t ha d a profo und in f luence upon the emerg ing fed ­ eral arc hive s in the Un i t e d States a s 111 eJ.l . Like most o f us in the arc hival pro f ession, the Dut ch arc h i vists we re c ommitt e d t o b r i n g­ ing o rder out of the c hao s of his tori c al d oc ~m e nt s and archival c ollections. In writin g the ~~al , the Dutch arc h i vis t s did no t wish t o c r e a te a rigid, dogmat i c philosophy about arch i- va ] p- rocedures which wo n l d on l y s e rve as a "he a vy yoke on t h e s hould e rs of our colle a g ue s . Ill On t he c ontrary , they en v i s i on ed t he Man ua l to be a r eason ed a nalysis o f ( c ont. p . l it)

l. S. Mul ler, J . A. Fe ith and M. Fr uin, Manual for th ~ Arr a ngement and Descrip t ion of Ar--chi-ves-- (New York: H. \.J. \1/ilson Companv, ·l940, · En glish e d ition) , p . 9 . - 14 -

Classics , cont.

nrchival principle s which would make Lhe administra tion of archives more consisten t and form . . The m thod by which the Dutch arc h ivi s ts conveyed the ir views wa s through a set "rules" or statements r elati ng pr i marily to the arrangem nt and description of 'publ ic r Som of the topics dis cussed in th• Manua l inc lude the trea t ment of archival collection organic entities, the diff rences between various types of archives, the means by which maintains th original o rde r o f a coll cti.on and the proc edures for developing finding Looking at the Manual today from a perspective o f how archival theory and techniqu developed so rapidly in the 20th c entury, one ma y be tempted to think that the book is a of the past . Indeed, this is true in part because c ertain ideas advanced by the Dutch vists have been drastically modifi d and changed as the archival professi on has grown come more sophisticated. Eviden e o f t he s eeming "irr l evanc " of the Manual can be se Lhe Dutch archivists' advocacy of a s ha rp distinc tion in the methods o f or gani z i ng and p s rving archives and manuscript. Th i.s "my t h" of a barrie r between a r chiv s nd manuscri which has been perpetuat ed throughou t t he years by a number of archiv is s and manuscript Lurs has largel y been disc r ed ited i n mor r ecent t imes by Ernst Posne r a nd Theodor Sche be r g . Nev .rthe less , in spi te of some o t he dated ideas pro po s d by the Dutch a r hivist MRnu ?J:. still s erve a s the one pu bli at ion wh ich acknowledged t he mer gence of modern ar a nd celebrated its a rriva l wi th t h cr ati on o f a s u i t ab le t h or t · ·aJ f r amework. Sever id a s discussed a t l eng th in tl1 e Ma nuAl may help demonstrat _ its impo r tanc as a n approp gu iJe f or arc hivis t . t oday . ---- On e po int me ntion ·d thr oughou t the Ma nu~ i s t h need f ur a sy tema t ic a pproa ch t o arra ngem nt a nd descript ion of r u rds . he Dut h a r c hi vis t. ·] early f J t t ha t a r r angem reco cds would be made on the ba s i s of original or der. \{h i t hi s id a ad alr eady been cated in the early 19th c entury by French and Prussi a n a rchi vis t s, th Du t ch a chivists rP. nd ed for the cone pl of origi nal or der t o a pply t o medie val records wh ich had b en rg in a haphaza rd fashion as well as to pllhl ic r eco rds whi.h wer e subject tom d r n filing I e rn s . On a s imila r note , t he D11L 1.. h a r .hivi s t s wen· Vt:!ry concerned t ha t parts of a colle no t be split up but rather 1 i nked to othe r parts so as t o r ate an " organi c" entity . F Lh e ir pe rsp c tive, t his Jinka g8 was vitally importa 11t in o rd r t o he t t r understand how va rious parts of t he co l lec tion r e l atPd to ea c h oth r . The Dutc h arc hi vists we r e a lso commi t t ed t o th i dea that an or gani zed sys t em o f fi aids was essential for archi vist s t n d t e rrnin e t he nature of their col l ections and f or s rn do researc h in the ollec r ions . Howeve r, un.lik the his t orian wh ose r esponsibility i r o writ about the past based on evide nce contai ned in his t orical docum ents, the Dutch a vist s stated that the ar l1iv i st hould d sc r ibe col l ections i n terms of t heir s t r u ture t hu s avo id any l e ngth co en tar y on the contents of the collec tion: "This guide should drawn up in a prac U ·al way - a bove a ll, the refor , not in too gr at d e t;:~i l ; it should b limlt ~:• d to giving a summary of th conte nts of rhe archival co ltec tion ."2 Such a s e·emingly n a rr mo~ d f i nition o f the arc hivi t 's r esponsibiliti s in this area would suggest that the r we r e onl y a limit d numb e r o f ways in whic h archival co lle t ion r outd be described. On the contrary, the Nanual mak es .l ear t hat there are a wid varie inding aids which can be de v .lopf d for use hy historians and othe r r esearche r s . In add th Dut c h archivists po inted out that various finding aids like the inventory, a l endar ind ex should not be util ized in a random way . lnst ad they s tressed t he need f o r establ inte rrelated l evels o f desc ription for archival call c tions. Finding aids would therefo c: t)rrespond not only to diffe r e nt 1 P. ve ls o f arra ng me n t , as revealed in the series descri btlt they would als address differ ent r esearch ne ds , as r efl ec t ed in the calendar \'17hich 11s ed to de scribe the contents ot a coll ec tion o r the index whic h f u rnis hed personal and P na mes . By establishing disti nct l t> ve ls of finding aids f or a r chival r. ollections, the Out ar·hivi ts f el t that the descr i ption fun c ti on would be sys t matized. Ar chival. educato rs hy and l a r g ag re . that the pub] i aU on o f a Manual fo r t he Arr~ me n_':_ ~ nd Description f Ar chives wi'l . s ·ignificant because H he r a ld ed the beginni ng o f the mod e rn a r c hives era. -;-rh Du tch a r chi. v i ~:> L S ' calJ f o r a "system. appr oach" to a r ch ives was r e fl >c t ion ) f the need fo r het r 'r s tan dar d ~:> a nd me t hods in appraising , a rranging (coo t· P

2 . Ibid., p. 100. -1 -

class i c s , cont .

and de scr-ibing massive quantitie s of records . Although t he ir prose may s eem s t i lted and old­ fas hio ned for t oday ' s r a d e r, the Out h a r c hivists d i d establish a theory on t h e c a r e and preservati on o f a rch ives wh ich would serve as a gu ide for f u t ure a r c h ivists. From t his per­ spec tive alone , one can t r uly consid e r the Manual one of the classics of arc hival literat ure . ********************

Almost 25 years after the Dutch Man ual c aptur d the hearts and minds of Europe ' s a r chiv al co n~uni t y, a nother i nf luential work o n archival administration was published in England . This "'ork , e n title d ~ Manual ~ Arc hive Adm in i s t ration, was writte n in 1922 by Sir Hilary Jenk inson (189 2-1961). Oli ver \.Jen dell Holme s , f orme rly of the Nat ional Arc hives, once s tated t hat Hilary Jenkinson was " the mo s t emine nt a r c h ivi st o f h is gen e ration in the Engl ish-speaking wo rld. " 3 Indeed , J e nkinson's car eer as a s c holar and archivist wa s illustri ous. On the a c a ­ d~m i c sid e , J e nkinson was a S ho l a r- of Pemb r o ke College , the F . W. Maitland Lecturer at the Univer s ity of Cambr i dge and a Re ad er ·in Diploma tic and EngJ ish Arch i v es a t the Unive r s ity of ~ n do n. J e nkinson i s b est known, howe ver- , fo r his archival accomplishments i n 48 years o f se rv ice with the Publi Records S r v ice . Du r ing this r emarkable s pan of years , Jenkins on served as Prin ipal As s i sta n t K epe r- o f the R _cor ds a nd Secretary from 1938 to 1947 and as ~p ut y Keeper f r om 194 7 t o 1954 . In a dditio n t o t he Ma nual whic h will be d iscuss ed b elow, l~ n kinso n was al so apr lific writer HI such topics as the--ar c hival profession, " private ~ rchives , " t r- ans ript i on of documen t s , pr ese r- vation a nd paleography . Jen kinson ' s Ma nual is a hig hl y d e taile d text o n the t heory and pra c tic e of archiv es as viewed from the pe rspec t i ve of Eng lish archi val i ns titu t i ons , par tic ularly t he Publi Records llff ice . In contras t t o the Out h manuaJ, this p ub licat i o n examin s various arc hiv al topics more ex t e ns ively . Amo ng the a r eas o vered in t he Ma nual a r the definition of archiv s, the ~ttlcs of t h arc h i v ist , th~ qu esti on o f arc hival custody , conservation , arran gement a nd des t· r i pt i on , mod e rn a r c hives a nd t h e issue of d estruct i n of records a nd t h e rol e of the Ar chi vis t in the c r eation of records, n r " ar-r: h i v e making. " Un like t he Du tch a r chiv is t s , . l ~ nk i nso n sees himsel f a nd has heen seen by o the r a r ch i va l ht•o ris t s as a n a bso lu t i st . I-l e ne , hi s wi d l y acclaim d book has stir red muc h d i s cu ssi o n and rn ntrove r sy t h r o ug h t he years . S vera ] P X mpl s f r o m t h e Manua l wi l l help i llus t rat e Jenkin­ so n ' s seemi ng l y dogmatic view a bou t archival a dministration . - In one of t h e most c o ntrov e r ­ s i~ L par ts o f this book , J enkinson sta t es that r ecords, especially public records , which h a v e hP~ n o u t of t he o f f i c i a l c u stody of a n a r c hival r e posito r y s hou l d no longer be considered .trrhives. As .Jenki nson sta es , "Arr hiV(' qua l ity is d e penden t u pon th poss ibil ity of prov ing ~n ttnblemished line of responsibl e c u s t od i a ns . " 4 Frum Jenkins on ' s pe r s pec tive , a r c hival sLra ys a nd records r ece i ved from replevin ac tio ns ·annot be incorpora ted within the bod ies uf r ecords t o wh i ch they o r igina lly belong . These doc ume nts, according to J enkinson , are i r r e· lricvably lost . It i s Jn ter esting to no t e that J e nki nson does no t pr o pose any s u itab le r emed y fo r t he s e " l ost r e ·o rd s . " Be cause these r ecords ha v e been d e pos ited o utside of official c u s ­ tody , u ne supposes tha t Jenki nsc'n wo uld f ee l t ha t no thing s hould be done with these items - - a v ie wpoin t that wo uld not be t o l e r a t ed t oday . In a r r ang ing r- ecords , J e nkinson he l d t h na rrow view t ha t all collectio ns mu s t adhe r e tri.C' t l y t o t he c on ·ept of pro ve nanc ' · This att i t ude negat es a n y possible thought on rrangement sche ma s based o n r at i o na J o rde r- a nd purpose . Wh il e Jenkinson ' s thoug ht s o n ~ rr a n ge m e nt c an be exp l a ined i n pa r t b y his ex pe r-ie nce with public r ecords , s uc h ide a s abou t lhp " inviola t e " na ture of prov e na n(·e ci nes not satisfy t h need s of a rchivists \\l ho a r e con­ ~ Lant l y b si ged with co 11 ection s in whi c h o rig inal o rde r c annot be restor ed o r in wh i ch orig­ tnil o r de r i nh i bit. a better und r> r stand ing of the co l lection and its possibl e uses . JeTJ kinson ' s op inions abo ut the dut ies a nd r esp ns i hi lities of t h arc hivist have also h"~' n the s u bjec t of mu c h di c usb Lo n s i nc e the ptl b l icatio n of the Manual. ( con . p. 16)

- f~ - -- o u ~e-r- w.--Hol;;s;-....-srr- "Hi1n.ry ~~ lu l ; , 196 1): 345 . 4 . Hila r y J enkinson, -A Man--ua-l --o( Ar--- ·hiv7--es- --Admin.i· - strati------.on (London : Per y, Lu nd, ~ 1 li npl!r i es & r.o -. , 1937 , 2nd ed i tion) , p . 1 I . -16-

Classics, cont.

It was Jenkinson's feeling that the primary duty of t he archivist was to the archives. According to Jenkinson, the "Archivist ••• is the servant of his Archives first and afte to the student Public."5 By "student public ," J enkinson not only referred to those scho who utilized archival collections, but also to the "secondary d ut i es" of the archivist, editing publications, producing finding a i ds and publicizing archival activi ties . Jenk even went so far as to suggest that the historical and political comm unities , rather thaa the archival community, should have the sole responsibility for determining access polict. publications guidelines and archival repositor y ocations. Ar chivists today can readily ­ the shortcomings of this truncated view of archi val responsibilities. Yet even in the t~ in which Jenkinson wrote the Manual , archivi sts characterized themselves in a multiplicit,1 different roles. Archivis ts at that time, as well as now, were both publicists and scho~ editors and curators, site planners and administrators. Their res ponsibilities transcendM t he traditional antiquarian concern for historical doc umentation because the nature of ~ archives demand ed more from archivists in terms of professional skills and knowledge . H~ what Jenkinson seemed to be advocating i n his analysis o f the "primary" and "seconda ry" dut of archivists was a vieH of the profess i on which had become largel y outdated even by 1922, Despite Jenkinson 1 s purist thoughts on certa in archival topics, the Manual is still r egarded as a c lassic in archival literature because of its sweepi g range of subjects ancl it:s assessment of issues vital t o the admin "i st rat ion of modern archives. One s ub ject of 11 portance to Jenkinson was the deve lopm nt of conservat i on t echniques and policies, or what r eferred to as the "physical defence of arc ive . " Although book and art conse rvators had already writ t en ext en sively on matters pertaing to the preservation o f pape r and a rtifact~ Jenki nson's examination of this issue is importan t because it was one of t he first occas~ in wh ich a prominent archivi t recognized t e role that conservation pl a ys as an integral part of arc hival work. Jenkinson defined conservation in rather broad t erms . On the one hand, it meant the traditi onal preservation o f deteriorated or damaged doc uments and bomW vo lumes . For this pa rt of the definit ion , J enkinson des c ribed various r epair techniques • the mat e rials used in making repairs. Th e second part of Jenkinson's definition of c onse~ t·ion includes matters which pertain to the c reation of institutional polici es affecting C( s8rvat ion practic es . It is in this part of his discussi on on conservation that Jenkinson ()f fers muc h practical and relevant information for archivists today. For example , he anal) va r ious conse rvation fact s which should be conside red in designing a rchival repositories, s uc h as protection from fire and flood , proper ventilati on , adequate lighting and heating I s nitabl e shelving arrangements . Jenkinson also ext e nded the inst i tutional aspects of cons• vation to include archival s ecurity. I n discuss ing this topic, J enkinson not only offer~ uui d· line s for theft prev •n tion and the es tablishm ent of "safe rooms," but he also examin~ rhe seemingly un s olvable problem of mispla ement of r ecords by researchers. It should be noted that a number of Jenkinson 1 s ideas on the "physical de fence of Archives" have become obs olete due to rapid advancements in conservat i on technology. Nevertheless, J enkinson's thoughts on archival conservation were significant in t hat they helped set the focus for f nture clebates on this i mportant s ub_iec t. Another aspect of the Manual which dese rves serious consideration by archivists today is Jenkinson's discussion ofree~rds management, or "archive making" in his parlance. Jenlt: snn was very concerned that with the growth in the quantity of mod ern rec ords, proc edures needed to be established in creating and disposing of s uc h r ecords. According to Je nkins~ the archivist must bec ome involved in the proc esses whic h c reates r ecords , such as in the rlevelopment of forms, transcription of t elephone and conservation messages and copies of nictated letters and telegrams. I n addition to working with other departments on establi~ records-c r eating practices , Jenkinson felt tha t the archivist needed to work close ly with business or gove rnment associates in developing guidelines for controlling the proliferati' of records. It was Jenkinson's opinion that non-archivists needed t o become more inv olv~ i n the Fentention and disposal of r ecords he fo re they we re transfe rred to the archives. BY c r eati ng certain rules for the proper dis posit ion of records, Jenkinson believed that an 81 chives would only rec ei v i tems which we re deemed suitable f or pe rman ent r etention. (coot• ------·-----, ----- 5. Ibid_, p. 124 . - I 7- classics, cont.

Jenkinson 's pioneering ideas on r ecords management also included an interesting analysis

, 1f the factors which s hould be considered in destroying records . In this part of the Manual, .Jenkinson is at his antiquarian best because he ·s extremely" rel uctant to destroy any rec-; rds. ti c s hied away from r ecommending the destruc tion of items which are word-for-word duplic ates of o rig inals because the s e arch for these duplica t es involves time , manpower a nd intellectual sc rutjny. Jenkinson also did not r e commend the destruction of ostensibly historically value­ )PSS records because arc hivists of one time pe riod c annot det e rmine future researc h trends. ohviously , for archivists today who have r esponsibility for organizational and/or governmental records , Jenkinson's thoughts about the destruc tion "problem" seem like a trip into the dis ­ tanl past. Yet J enkinson ' s prudent notions o n this subj ec t are interesting in light of the times in which he wrote the !'fanual . In the aftermath of the First \vo rld War, mo s t Euro pe an gove rnmental a r chives, inc luding the Public Re ords Office in England, were overwhelmed wjth Ltrge quantities of records. Such a d eluge forced archivists t o establish strict guidelin s tor the r eten tion and destruction o f records. Whi]e this process of developing gu idelines t-Ja,; no t an easy task, it definitel y foster ed a feeling a mo ngst archivists that the r e tention ,, f .1ll records was a luxury whi h mos t r e positories cou ld ill afford to maintain. Henc e , ~~ h L'll r eading Jenkinson ' s statements about rP.cords d estruction in the context of t he post- \~, ,rJd \~ar I period , on e comes away wj th an n pinion that the prominen t English archivist did nnt n~a l i s th:all.y address one o f the most perplexing prohlems affecting the administration ,, f rnoJe rn arch i v es . In hi s Manual ~ A r:_~ - - ~_:!ye Admin~.!.E_ati_~~ · Sir Hilary Jenkinson presented a theory on ;tr,·hive s which \-la s mu c h largE!r iu ·cope than that g ive n by the Dut h archivists . His vi e: ws IHt lhe c us t od y of record s , archival ronservation, arrangement a nd description techniques ("rn,,ra I. d efen ·e of archives") and records management prac tices were s ignificant in tha t they detll<11l~t'ra t e d a relationship between modern busine ss or governmental a c tivi t es and the preser­ va tion nf thistorical documents . For American archivists in the pre-World War II era, Jenkin­ son' s hnok sparked much discussion and led the way towa rds the d evel opme nt of better archiva l st andards . While this brief anal ysis of the Manual has presented a view of Jenkinson as sn meone who was dogmat ic a nd not necessarily included t o a c knowledg e c e rtain mod ern tendencies in t h ~ archiva l professio n, it i.s Lrue nnn e the l ess t hat .J e nkinson was a vitally important: f it;un• whose contributions to arrhival theor y and practice are stil l widely recogntzed today . ********************

The American and internationa l archiva l communities l ost a d ear frie nd when Ernst Posn E:' r (l8xten s ivPly , h111 in 1930 Posne r became a memb e r of thP faculty at the [nstiture for Ar h"ival Sci en e and Advanced Histori cal Studies whic h was c onnected with the Staatsarc.h iv. The ris of Ad\1lf li i tl e r in 1933 placed Posner ' s youn g anrl promising ar _e r i n jeopardy. Because of his .Jewish hu, ·kground, Posner had to give u p his r esponsibiliti s at the Staatsarchiv . During rh 1\r vstallnac ht episod e o f 1937 in wl 1i h the .Jel-Jish synagogues in Ge rmany were burned, Posner "'''t. a rres t d a nd placed i n the Sac hsenh u s~~ n concentration camp for si x \v eeks. The comb ina- liCln of th se vents u ltimat l y forced P1sne r and his wife to e migrat e (cont. p. 18 ) - 18-

Classics cant.

to the United States l i ke so many other European intel l e c tuals in the late 1930s. Pos n e r's "second" car eer began in the summer of 1939 when h e b ecame a lecturer in tbe archives administration ours at American Univer sity in Washington, D.C. Sho rtly after his arrival, Posner r eplaced Solon J . Bu c k as the head of the archival education progra. Am e rican . Under his leadership, the program expanded significa ntly. In 1940, r ecords at m a nag~ment courses were added t o the arc hival curriculum. Eventually, the r ecords manag offer1.ngs were developed into a degr ee-gran ing program. Posner also d i r ected the Insti~t on Archives Administration from 1945 to 1961 as well as the I nstitutes on Genealogical~ search and Records Management . Posner retired from academic life in the early 1960s after serving as the chairman of the history d partment and d ean of the Graduate Sc hool at Amert Ernst Posner's writings r evealed h im to b e a true "renaissance man" for the archival profession. Throughout his career , Posner pla e d many roles as a prominent archival writer. On e role whic h he pers o nally c h er i s h ed was serving as the a r hivist' s historian . Po sner o nce remarked to Theodore Sc hell nherg that he had s pent over 60 year of h s life t rying t:o b -•c:ome a historian.6 In po in L of f act, however, Posner was ver y mu ch a h istorian of a rdlives . Posner wrot num rous arti c l es and books on archiva l histo ry from ancient times th r ough the Wo r ld War I I era . C •rt ainly one of th most widely r ecogni zed historical works t:hat Posner \.Jr ote and o ne which he cuns ider d a labnr of l ov was Ar hives in the Ancient World (197 2 ). In writin this hol)k , ]t wrts Posner ' s intention to show t hatarc h-ivists shoul be con cerned about their h ritag,, :

To those active l y engag d in arrhival work the h"s t o ry of a rchives admin­ istration should be a serious cone n, not merely a ubject o f curiosity. Beyond that, archivists must fee l a need ro expl ore rhe o rigin of their profession , to underst:and the c irc umstances and forces that hav determined its volution, and, with s u ch 11nd e rsranding, to anti c ipate and prepare for th fut11r e . 7

~.Jh ther Posner himself felt that this p11blicat i on had raised the historical consciousness of t 11.~ a r hival ommunity ·a n nat he asc rt in .d . What an be det rmined is the fact t-hat this \.J 1rk g r e atly en larged the archivist's '' nncept ion of his /her past. Tn Ar ·hives in the Ancient Wor_lj, Posner examined the growth of archival thought in the Egyptian , Gre ian, Pe r sian and Roman c ivilizations . Us ing two definitions of archives to d i fferentiate b e tween th mod e rn meani.ng a nd the an·ient meaning, Po s ner studjed the organiz t i o n a nd a dmi nist r ation of r hives CJ S we.ll as conse rvation prnctices. Posn r also describ hnw c e rtain c jviJizations d estroy d Lheir r _co rd s h •ca u s~ of a f a ilure to recognize and ap preciate t h va lue of archives. HP pla ed th blame for suc h tragic occurrences not only 0 the ancie nt archivists but o n all arr.hivist s t-1ho hav not b e n persuasive e nough through th y ars in explaining the importan . of arcllivf?s . Th mod rn era of a r c hives , from the Fre nch Revolution to the Second World War , was wi se a time of great interes t t o Posner the histtJtian . Posner wrote several essa ys fo r the Am ric an Archivist and other jou rnals con ern ing the developmen t of archives a dministration iu Euro pe and the Uni ted States s in e the late 18th century. Posner' s s tudies o n European arch ival activity conveyed inf rma tion on the centralization of secular records into natio~ Rr hjval r e posito ries , th development ~f th~ principle of acc~ssibility o~ ar c hiv~s to t:~ puhl i. e as a r esult o f the g r owth of nat1.onal1sm a nd the f o rmat1.on of certa1n princ: 1p1es 8 as respec t d es fonds and proven anc . Throu~h his r esearch on Eu r opean archives, Posner dir c overed tllat many gov ernment ministri ~ and bureaus w~r e extreme l y reluctant to tran s fer ~ their r ecords to t h e arc.hives. Posne r aLso found that archival holdings were being arrang nc o rding to points of view whic h were no t ronsistent ~vith the unique (cont. p . 19) ------::--::-~--:------6. Frank B. Evans, " Poslappointment Ar llival Training : A Propos d Solution for a Bn s i. · Pro bl em, " Am eric an Ar ·hivisL 40 (.f£111 1t ary, 1977): 57-74 . 7 . E•rn st P osner , _:A c I nve· ~ ~· ~l :_!{\ ~-~· ..!!. t. Wnr ld ((;,am b r1· d g '·· Harvard Univers ity Press, 1972 ), p. ]. -19- classics , cont. charac teristics of r ecords, such as clasifying records along subject lines. With the rise of an archival profession and the gr a dual development of better relations between archivists and administrative units, Posner claimed that government agencies began to lose their proprie­ tary attitudes about records generated from their offices and accept the the idea that archi­ vists are the legitimate custodians of records . Posner was also fascinated with the growth of archival administration in the United States. His writings on American archival history, \-lith the exception of thi s state archives study , were largely centered upon the establishment of the National Archives. For example. in his a r ticle entitled "Archival Administration in the United States ," Posner traced the various steps in the creation of the National Archives from the Public Archives Commission in 1899 to the signing of the National Archives Act in 1934. 8 Other writings by Posner have examined the various branches of the National Archives, the development of the record group co ncept of arrangement and the r elationship between the National Archives and othe r archival repositories . From these observations , Posner acknowled ged th meteoric rise of the still relatively young American archival profession and expressed con fid n e that the United States '"auld ass ur.1 e a position of leadership in many international archival projects. Another role \vhic:h Posner played as a significant writ e r was that of a commentator on matrers of interest to archivists , particularly in the United States. It was in t his role of a ommen tator where Posner's trem endous abilities were best recognized and appreciated . Un ­ like man y of his !Jeers, Posner had an uncanny skill for isolating an issue, problem or trend, dealing wi th it in relationship to the times a nd other considerations , and proposing inno­ vative solutions or observations for handling the subj ect . One topic of gr eat concern t o Po s ne r dur inp, his " second' career in Amer ica was t he condi.tion of American state a r chives . In his presidential address at the annual mee ting of th Societ y o f American Archivists in 1956, Posner pointed out the need f or a study of the " origins , present s tatus , functions and problemsII of Am e rican state archives . ~ Several years later, the Soc iety act ed upon this r ecomm endation by selecting Posner as the direc tor o f a wid e-scale proiect to survey stat archival repositories. The c ulmination of this s tudy , which occurred between 1961 a nd 1964, resulted in the publication of American State Archives . The writing o f Am e rican Stat e Ar hives came at a time ,.,h en many state archival practices we r e abysmal. In a numb e r of s t ar es , archival r posi t ories were not fully funded by state gove rnm nts and thus could only provide partial s e r vi ces for the preservation of records. Utl1e r state archives with be tt e r fa ·ilities and O!Je rating proc dure s still suffer d from thp·ir " second c lass" status within the s peetrurn t)f state governmental agencies . \-lith these co ndit ions in mind , Posne r examined all 50 s tat e repositories and the archives of Pue rto Ri co for the purpose o f c r eating standards for th or ganiza t ion and operation of state ~ r · hives. Posn er eval uat ed their l egal ha sls , policies a nd procedures , pe rsonnel prac tices , buildings , equipment and financ ial resour ces. From his s urvey , Posner issued many r ' COm- m ndat i ons for specifi _ archival r e pos itories as well as fo r state archives in gen e ral . Th se r ecommendat ions are stil l heing acted upon today. Anothe r matt e r which Posn r sp nt conside rable time studying and which wa s closely aligned wl.th this professional t>xpe riences \.Jas the quality o f a r chival t rainin g in the United St a t s. As an archival educator , Posn e r was deeply int r ested in th earl y develorw nr of var ious Ameri an archival trainin g prograMs and how their courses of instruction influenc d tlw f uture direction of archival ducar-i. on.10 [twas Posner ' s opinion that students o f archival administrat ion s hould r e e ive their basic training in history and r elated fi lds. 'le p,e nera lly s ub sc ribed t o the r e co111m endations giv n in the famous Bemis committee report of IQ IR ~J hi c h advncated cours es in Am rican hlstqry and fJOlitical s ·ience and an appren ticeship in an archival r epository a s the n c essary acad mi prerequisites fo r ( ·ont. p. 20)

8 . Ern st Posner , "Ar hival Administ ration in t h United St ates , 11 in Kenn eth \.J . Mund en, ec r\r·hives a nd the Ptthlic lnt e res (Washi. n.ii, l•)tl:Public A fairs Press , 1967) , pp . 114-130 . 9 . Ernst Posne r , "Hhat, Th en, Is the AmJrican Archivjst , This New Man?" Ame rican ~ <: ltivist 20(January 19 57) : 11. - --,-a:- Ernst Posner, "Arch iva 1 Tr a i.nin g in the Uni t ed States," Ar chiv um 4 (1954 ) : 35-4 7. -20-

Classics, cont.

archivists. 11 Posner went beyond these s uggestions, however, by placing emphasis on then for "broad training in advanced methods of researc h jn history and related f ields" as Wellet4 ''study of and instructions in the history of records making and records administration."l2 a These ideas were later used to design the curr icul um f or t he American Un i v ersity archival training program. Under Posner's supervision, courses were offered in the history of histo cal writing, research methods and materials, comparative administrative his t or y , administra~l· tive history of the federal government and records management. During the late 1940s and 1950s, Posner's contributions to archival education were generously acknowledged when the American University curriculum served as a mod el for other archives courses. Through his influence on such programs as those of the University of Denver and Wayne St ate University, Ernst Posner played a prominent role in the conceptualization of contemporary archival train­ ing in the United States.l3 There are many other aspects of Ernst Posner' s life as a European and American archivist which cannot be mentioned he r e but which will be the substance of a s ub sequ nt essay . Ne~- 1 ss t o say, the ideas, theories a nd obs ervations of Ernst Posner significantly affected the way Am rican archivists view their professi on. H broadened our horizons by making us con­ scious of the archival pas t and r espectful of the opportuni ties which lie ahead in the futur He ove r came acute personal adversity to partic i pate in one of the greatest archives experi­ ments of all time, nam e ly the creation of a federal arc hives for t he Uni t ed States . And h developed a program of a r chival educati on wh i ch has now been duplicated i n a number of unive rsities across the country . In s hort , Ernst Posner gave archivists a sense of mission and a belief t hat our work a s cus t odians of America's documentary heritage is an honorable ~ a Jlin g . Because of this, we are all enriched. ********************

One of the many th mes stated in Da nie l Boorstin's wid ely acclaimed his torical trilogy, The Americans, is the idea t hat Old \.Jorld ways of thinking a nd 1 iving were changed and adapt d t o fit New World conditions . I n numerous instances, Boorstin r e lated t he story of how Am erican settlers borrowed ideas from European thought and t hen alrered t hem to suit the unique Am e rican environment. This theme certainly reflects th life and writings of Theodor R. Schellenber g (1903-1970). As one comm ntator has observed, Schellenberg was a great "Americaniz r " and "popularizer" of archival th ory and technique.l4 Through his career at the National Archives and in his n<>table publications, Schellenberg o ffered a dis tinctive Ame ri.can view of archival adminis tration which had a significant effect. upon t he development of archival ins titutions ·n the mid-20th century . Indeed, all Ameri an archivists of recent times have benefited immeasurab l y from Sc hellenbe r g 's contributions . Schellenberg was a native of t he Gr at Plain~. Born and raised in Kansas, he attended Ka nsas State University b f o re h •ading a s t t o the Univer sity of Pennsylvania for graduate wo rk in histo ry. After r eceiving his doc t orat e in 19 34, Sc hellenb erg t raveled t o Washingt~ r n join other young professionals who were taking positions in th new federal agencies of t h • New Deal. His first appointment wa s that of s ecr e tary of the Joint (cant. p. 20)

ll. The Bemis committee was -Offi d -ally kn own as the Commi t t ee on the Training of-ArChi­ vists. It was one of the first ommirt ees e stablis hed by the So c iety of Am erican ArchivistS· IInd er the chairmanship of no t ed diplomatic his torian, Samuel Flagg Bemis, the committee tssu d report in 1938 on archival training in Europe and a ppropriat courses of s tudy for pros- pec tive archivists in the Un ited States . Th ~ committee rejected a library science curricU 10 antl, inst ad, recommend ed cours s in Ameri ·an history and political science for students in a r chives. See Evans , "Pos t a ppointmen t Ar hival Training ," p. 58. 12 . Ernst Posner, "European Experiences in Tr aining Archivi sts," American Archivi~ h (January 1941): 36-37. 13. Evans , "Po tappointment Ar chival Tr aining ," p . 59. e l4. Jane F. ~mith, " Sc h ell~nb e r g: Ame~i anizer . a~d P o pu~ari z er, '_' pap: r to b e presen~ 9 at tht a nnual rneet~ng of the So c ~ t y of Am e r1 an An · hJv~ s t s , C1n c innat1 , Oh ~o , October 2, -21- . classics, cont. committee on Materials for Research of the American Council of Learned Societies and the r, ocial Science Resea r ch Council. In this position, Schellenber g expe rimented with various uses of research materials, pa rticularly microfilm, and was i nstrumental in ~~riting the Joint Committee's report entitled Methods of Reproducing Research Materials (1935). Schellenberg's career at the National Archive s began immediately after he concluded his work on the Joint Committee. Prior to the official f ormation of the National Archives, Schellenberg served as associate national director of the survey of federal archives. His work in locating and analyzing various federal r ecords led to a new position as one of the deputy examiners in the newly created Archives. As an examiner, Schellenberg continued his surveying work as well as made recommendations for the transfer of records into the Archives building. In 1938 , Schellenberg became the Chief of the Division of Agriculture Department Archives. It was in this first administrative assignment that he played a prominent role in the development of records disposal schedules. Sc hellenberg held this position until 1945 wh en he left the National Archives and became the r e cords officer of the Offic e of Price Ad ministration. In 1948, Sche llenbe r g r eturned t o t he restructured National Archives and Records Service and became the program advisor to the Archivlst of the United States. Two years late r, in 1950, the growth of NARS ac tivities forc ed the Archivist to creat a new ~ssistant archivist position which would ove rsee the administrative duties of the agency . Schellenberg was appointed to this pos t. Over the next eleven years , he clarified man y standards for archival f un c tions in t he Na tional Ar chives . Schel lenber g and his staff a lso proc!u ced several in - ho t~ s c procedural manual s, t he mos t wi de l y knwon of wh ich was t he Nat i.onal Archives Handbook of Procedures (1952 ). Prior t o hi s r etir ement in 1963, Schellen­ berg was anpointed assistant arc hivist for t he Office of Records Apprai s al . In this capacity, hP. r e-examined the enti re a ppraisal process and imnlementecl new procedures fo r the apprai sal of fed ral records. Durin ~?, the immediate pos t-Wo rld War T1 pe riod, it was fashionab le amon g"toncensus"his­ rorians and c ultural theorists t o be lieve in the " e xportable " natur e of Ameri can ideas and inst itutions . These intellec tua l s ad he r ed t o t he notion t hat Am e r ican \.Jays of l i vi ng and th i nkin g ould be transferred t o othe r nations without an y possible dama ging onsequences to Lon g- s tanding c ultural mor es and traditions . r r oo the a r c hi val pe r spective , Schellenbe r g caut i on ed a gainst this view of exportation beca use of va st dif f erences i n r ecord-keeping pr act i ces be tween the Unit ed States a nd other co tm t r ies. Schellenberg not ed, f or exampl e , rh .q t Am e rican records we r e ke pt on the ba sis of diverse fi ling me thods , wh ereas o the r- na- tions ut i lized the r egi s try system of a rra ngement. Sc he llenberg als o r ecognized t he varia­ ri ons i n ba kgrounds among American and fo r ei~ n a r ·hivis t s . A cording to Schellenbe r g , Ame r i can ar hivists we r e b t t e r t r a in d in appraisal proc edures and handling massive quanti­ t i es o f mode rn records, while arch ivis t s e l sewhere we re trained in pres e rving older collection! This r ecognition of differe nt a r chival prac ti ces did not prevent Schellenberg from be ing an a r chival ambassador for the Un ited Stat es. It was Sche llenberg' s feeling that American archivists , particularly those f rom the National Ar c hives , need ed t o work with arc hivists from nther nations i n hopes of deve loping be tt e r procedures and stronger international tie s. S ·h ·llenberg attempted to strengthr n Am e rican r e lations \~ith arc hivis ts from other co untrie s through his work i n Au s tralia a nd South Am rica in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1954, Sche llenberg traveled to Australia as a Fulbright lec turer in a r chives and records manage- m nt . Dur-in g his stay , he served as an arc hival advi sor to the Co mm onwealth and stat gove rnfTlents, held several seminars and gave man y l ectur s on the values of modern records. On h i s r e turn to the Unit ed States , Schellenbe r g visited the national a r chives of New Zea­ land , India , Pakistan, Sw i t zerland, Au s tria, l·les t Ge rmany , France and En gland. Schellenbe rg made a second t ri.r abroad in 1960 \olh en he went to South America as an an · hives specialist und e r the Inte rnational F. ducat iona l Exchange Pr o~ ram . The purpose o f this trip \>las to nromote the a r chiva l nrofess ion in South America and to distribute Am e ric an arch ival lit e rature in Spa ni s h and Po rtugu•se . Thrn ur, h his t our of seven countries, Schellen­ be r g gav l ec tures on the i mpo rt an E: of archiv s , Lh , a r chival .'lnd library professions and t h" histo ry of th Na t iona l Ar c h iv "'q , Th e So uth Am e rican t r ip gave Sche llenJw r g a n nppor t un ity to pr omote (con t. p. 22) Classics, cont. the first Inter-Ameri can Archival Seminar. This seminar, which was held in Hashington ita October, 1961, was a successful venture . Sponsored by the National Archives and several other organizations, the seminar br ough t 43 archivi s t s and historians together from 17 Latin American nations. During the seminar , the participants organiz ed t he Inter-Ameri~ Technical Council on Archives and developed a quarterly publicati on entitled Boletin lnf tivo. Hhile the tangible products of the seminar barely survived Schellenberg's reti~ in 1963, this event contributed signif icantly to the growing prof essionalization of arch~ vists in the Western Hemph i sphere. No one ever made the claim that Schellenberg ' s writings were literary materpieces. Like · so many archivists, his writings are difficult to read because he emphasized techni~ matters concerning archives and manusc ripts.Neve rtheless, wha t Schellenberg lacked in lit~ skills , he made up for in theore tical insights . This knack for conceptualizi ng archival issues is best revealed in his widely a ccl aimed book, Modern Ar c hi ves: Princ i ples and T~ niques (1956). This publication became the major t heoretica l work on archives for Sche~ berg ' s generation. It was not only hai led by a rchivists in En glish-speaki n g countries , b• it was well r eceived in other nations as well, thus pr ompt i n g i t to be t rans lated into German, Hebrew, Portugues e and Span ish . Due to the f avorable response on this book, Schelq berg received the Waldo Gifford Lel and Prize from the Socie ty of American Archivists in H~ ~!odern Archives was c r eated lar gely from the r es earch conduc ted by Schellenbe rg for bil Australia trip as a Fulbri ght l ecturer. The book was Hr itten primarily f or the public reco a r chivist, but its message is pert i nent to a ll a r chivi ·ts who re'ognize t he chall enges in adm i niste ring modern arc hi ves. Sch ll nberg st r essed t he ne d f r more unif orm pr actices in archives r ep,ardless of physical diffe r ences i n records a nd the vari ety o f archival repost tories. Tn developinR this theme , Sche llenberg e mpha sized t he importa nce of un de r st andin~ the r e l ation of rublic r eco rd s fo r cur r nt use t o t hose nractices in an archival repositon. lie a lso examin ed the rel a tions h ip be tween archival and library principles, t he relation of var ious ac tivities between arch i val institutions and t he relat i ons hip between American and European prac tices. On this las t point , Schellenberg ' s e omments were pa r tirnJ arl y impnrtanl b ,,·ause it marked the firs t t ime in which a comp arative s tud ha d been ma de of a rchival ~ ra c tic es in other nations. In Mod e rn Archive ~ , Schell e nbe r g broke away from seve ral i dea s espous ed by European archivists, partic ularly Sir Hilary J enkins on. Por example , Sche llenberg took i ssu · with Jenkinson i n sta t i ng t hat th managemen t of c urrent r ecords was not entirely \vithin the domain of the agency tha t c reat ed them, but was \vithin t he purview of t he archi­ vist a s we ll. On the matt e r of r ec ords appraisal, Sc hellenber did not a gr ee with Jenkinson on th pointthat admini s t rators co uld make s ound deci s ions about the value of records cre­

cl assics , cont .

fo r a larger archival audience, or as Sche llenbe rg defin~s his readers,••the c ustodians of rpsea r c h mat erial - archivists, manuscript c urators nnd librarians. "16 The signi.ficance ot ~1anagement ~ Archives for the · r chiva l community 1 ies in itF: principle theme. Schellenberg states in the book that the principles and techniques which pPrtain to the admjnistration of public r ecords ·an also be applied to manuscript collections of r ecent origin, such as personal pap~rs and organizational records. This idea is tremen ­ dously important for archivists because it recognized, once and for all, the need to tear down the mythical barrie r between archives and manusc ripts in terms of their care and pre­ servation. Schellenberg's pronouncements on this rubject also had historical repercussions because it signified a definite break with the views held by the Dutch archivists and Sir Hilary Jenkinson. In substantiating this idea of a similarity in the administration of archival and manu!::i cript mat erials , Sc hellenberg examined various principles affecting t extual, cartographic and pic torial records. Sche llenbe rg provided an : i . nter~sting histori ·al pt::rs pecUv upon the development of Am e r ican arc hival practices a!::i well as analyz d new methodological trends in the library and arcl1ives fields. Among the topics disc ussed in the hook a r e record attributes, physical r~rrangement of collections in a r e pository, desc ription of privat papers , preparation f guides , notational s ys t ems, a rr angP. 1~ e 11t and description of cartographic and pictorial rP, ·orrls f!nd subject ca t aloging. One issue whic h was given mincJr treat me nt in M_anagern nt_ £I Archives but which oncerned Sch e llenberg \vas the training of archivis t s . Sc he llenberg \·JaS well qualified to \Hite ah nut this s uhi e . t. Por many years , ht: sup rvised the archival training programs at the National Archives anrl h · collaborated t.Jith Ernst Pnsner in t e achin the summe r session Am Prican University adva nced cours e in the pr .servat ion m1d administra tion of archives. 1 1 rom his experience as an an.:hival cdu .a tor , S ·h llenbe rg felt t hat manusc ripts and archives •1o ssessed roughlv the s ame eharact e ri. s Lics a nd thus hould be administered by the same nrincipll's anrl techni.cpu... s . S in e~ dll arehival functiuns nre infl•tPnr · d hy th way r eco rci~ nld teac h archives as long as they understood the differen es between published and unp•Jhlished materials . Acoording to Schellenberg, librarians \vere the ideal educators be­ cause of their emphasis upon methodology and their willingness to make material available to the DtJblic. Out of these virtues, Schtdlenberg he lieved that librarians could pass along a respect for documentation and an ethos of se rvice to a r chivi sts. Throughout his archival career, Theodore R. Schellenberg was concerned with a problem common to all archivists today, namely the n ed fo r better systems and standards in adminis­ t e ring archives and manuscripts. Schellenberg t ac kled this problem in many effective ways. He helped establish sonhisticated procedures for selecting and organizin~ records in the National Arc hives at a time wh en the agenc y was in its infancy . He formulated theories on :lrl'hiveo administration \vhic h a c: kn mvlerlged th' works of the r.uropean theorists ( cont. p. 24 )

J 6 . 'T'heodore R. Sche llenherr., Th e Ma~~geme n_~ !"11 Arc hiyes- (Ne\v York: Columbia llnive rsity Press , 196')) , fl· x. -24 -

Classics, cont. and yet offered new ideas and i nformation based on d velonnents in contemporary archives As one who harl the rare ability to con c entualize and tvrite about major issues affecting entire archival profession, Schellenberg stirred the feelings and attitudes of those who knew him personally as well as t hose who were only acqua inted with him through his publ tions . Not everyone agrees with S hellenberg ' s views, but practically everyone appreci and has benefitted from his numerous contributions. As a promi nent world leader stated so long ago, Schellenberg "will be rememb ered with gratitude wherever and whenever men and women strive t o prepare , or improve themselves , as archivists ."l7 ********************

To read and comprehend the "archival classics" of the Dutch archivists , Sir Hilary .J enkinson, Erns t Posner and Theodore Schellenber g is a challenge of Olynpian proportions. Th • style of writing xh lbit ed by t hese prominent figures lac ks literary verve and vital Tn fn rmation contained in the ir works ishighly techni. ca l and thus dulls one ' s s enses if t in oncentrated doses . Criticisms aside, t hese " c l assics" are as im portant fo r archivis today as they were fo pr evi ous gene at i ons. In p,ene ral. , t hey represent the intellectual I ifeb]ood of the archival prof ession . They demo nstrate the cont i nuity in archi val tho as wel l as describe the changes t.J hj ch have occurr ed through the years. More important , hmveve r , .is he fact that these writ i. n~s and the people who t-~r o e t hem helped p,ive to all Archivists an identity of who we are and h· Oltr nrofes iona l responsibilities should IL i s this endurinp. lep.:H·v rvhich t ies the oast to the pr esent and 'tvhich makes t he ir nJLJssages cruc i al for the archiva .l community s a whole.

17. Ian .,.,-acLean , " Ar chival Borld Leader , " in " ln emoriam : 'Theodore R. Schellen 1901-1970, " /\r.1erican Ar hivist ·n ) April , 1.970) : 198. " ••. no other profession calls for more various talents . "

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