А. С. Николаев в Институте внешкольного образования: проект «Музея по архивному делу»

Abstract

The article is devoted to the work Alexander S. Nikolaev (1877 – 1934) in the Petrograd Institute of Out-of-School Education in late 1910s – early 1920s. His teaching activities at the Institute and the place of archival issues in the program of its museum department have been studied on the basis of archival documents. The Institute initially focused on training of instructors and employees of cultural institutions, school teachers for adults and universities professors. The Institute had a museum section (department – faculty), on the basis of which several exemplary workshops for creating of manuals and their mastering were to be organized. That is the context in which A. S. Nikolaev’s projects of archival museum creation should be studied. One of such projects worked out by Nikolaev at that time has gone unnoticed until its publication in the Appendix. The connection of this project with the development level of museum affairs of the period is shown. Nikolaev's aspiration to show evolution of archiving and to follow fond formation stage by stage and his use of photographic and graphic materials are also noted. Moreover, it is the first assessment of the work of the Institute as one of the centers for teaching archiving in late 1910s – early 1920s.Training at the museum department of the Institute included a number of courses in both archiving and preservation of documentary monuments. This was due not only to the traditional proximity of archiving and museum work, but also to the circumstances of the first post-revolutionary years. Many museums (located in palaces and mansions of nobility) acquired valuable archival collections. They looked for an opportunity to use these in their scientific activities and exhibitions. The latter was due to the emphasis put on history of daily life and introduction of sociological method in museum work.