Historians, political scientists, and indeed many other scholars in the humanities and social sciences have long relied on archives to help them craft their dissertations and theses, round out a monograph that needs just one more primary source to complete an argument, and to end an episode of the BackStory podcast with the “Footnotes” segment. These are the obvious reasons archives are important; they provide us with the primary source material necessary to make cogent arguments about history using a plethora of materials. But, archives also serve many other scholarly purposes that might not be readily apparent, yet may serve scholars well.
Recently I was fortunate enough to visit two archives with the help of two competitively selected grants: the Tupac Amaru Shakur Archive at Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library and the Khalaf Al Habtoor Archive at Illinois College. Both experiences were rewarding and both helped emphasize that archives were not simply about producing traditional historical scholarship.
There are several benefits to archives research that help scholars become better. The first, and one that might be the most important, is that archives help scholars make institutional arguments about the importance of their programs as well as question campus problems that might have deep historical roots. The Georgetown Slavery Archive is one great example of the latter.
When academic programs are under pressure from increased calls for accountability and the increasing neoliberalization of education, explaining a department, center, or program’s larger role over the years might help significantly to stem pressure to trim budgets or cut staff. The same holds true for law schools where various centers, clinical programs, and even extracurricular options may be under pressure from administrators or donors. When I visited the Khalaf Al Habtoor Archive at Illinois College I was hoping to learn more about the long history of debating at Illinois College. The College had both a history of public speaking and debating with its literary societies, which still exist today, as well as supporting competitive debate for decades. Yet, there was relatively little information or institutional knowledge about the 1990s. Wanting to tell a more complete history that emphasized debate’s role over the years, I hoped to fill in the gaps so that debate didn’t become simply a fad of the 2000s or 2010s that was mere nostalgia for the Illinois College Debate Team’s glory days in the 1940s and 1950s. Rather, I hoped that recognizing the debate team as alive and well in the 1990s would help explain its continued importance the College today.
To that end, rather than producing a monograph or research note, I hoped to develop the College’s institutional memory to better position a current program in the campus community. Of course, this involved countless time looking through course catalogs, student newspapers, and yearbooks, but in the end I discovered a much richer history than anyone at the College seemed to understand. Similarly, scholars who run centers or are in charge of programs (or sponsor student organizations) would be well served to research in their college’s archives to explain why beyond the last year or last strategic plan, what they do matters to the college. It is easy to assume that everyone on campus “get’s it” or that there is something self-evident about historical research or campus traditions, but that’s not true in a world of academic silos and constant newsfeeds.
Law schools often have robust archives that house information concerning faculty, students, funding, scholarship, and more. For example, Harvard, Stanford, Minnesota, Penn, and Georgetown all have archives. Important research questions might be: Why was this program founded and do we still support those goals? What has been the history of community relations for this school and how could it be improved? What problems have faced this school in terms of X, Y, or Z, and how can we avoid them as we expand campus, change course offerings, etc.? There’s much to be learned from archives.
A second reason archives are important beyond scholarly work is that they can teach scholars new skills. I’m well aware that many scholars might scoff at the idea that a law or humanities student needs to learn these skills because of course they developed them in their undergraduate, masters programs, or in a specialized legal research, writing, or history course. But, that’s simply not true. Scholars too might have limited experience with visual imaging software, online information repositories, various types of scanners, etc. In an age of digital evidence and increasing technology in the courtroom, archives might help students, scholars, and even practitioners develop skills that directly translate to e-discovery practice and not simply that help a legal history syllabus or final paper.
A third reason archives are important is that they connect you with people you need as a scholar even if they aren’t directly related to your research interests. The world of archives management and librarianship (these are, in fact, two different fields) is interesting and each a rigorous professional and academic community in their own right. Depending on one’s institution, the archive might be managed by an archivist, librarian, or both. They both have their own online communities, conferences, and researchers. Connecting with these professionals can be an invaluable resource as they work with you by sending you new conferences, new collections, etc.
Lastly, and one perhaps more germane to a school’s vitality, is that archives give scholars and students a broader understanding of their institution, potentially increasing the connection to that place. Events become complicated, actors conflicted, and policies open to interpretation. Perhaps one might discover a particular social justice mission that motivated the law school in years past, or perhaps one gains a better understanding of a school’s leading role in training people of color, or supporting veterans. All of this is to indicate that schools looking to enhance feelings of affiliation might benefit from exposing scholars and students to their history.
Today scholars must face the realities of shrinking budgets, changes in curricula, and calls for accountability that may very well miss the mark of a department, program, or center’s importance to scholars, students, and the college community. Yet, archives can bolster the case for the work do in ways beyond the highly-touted monograph. Indeed, there are strong institutional reasons for incorporating archives into teaching, strategic planning, and even donor and alumni relations. It’s time to dust off those leather covers and get to work.
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