Archival Collections Research Articles

A Dissident Path: Paul Goma between Personal Memory and Archival Collections

Cet article revient sur l’itinéraire et les archives de Paul Goma, un ancien prisonnier politique qui a dénoncé la nature autoritaire et répressive du régime communiste dans ses livres, essais et articles et a fondé un mouvement pour les droits de l’homme. Il reste l’une des personnalités les plus complexes de la dissidence roumaine. Cet article examinera d’abord la vie personnelle et professionnelle de Goma pour identifier les événements qui l’ont conduit à la dissidence ouverte, puis à l’exil et à l’activisme anticommuniste. Il examinera ensuite les archives contenant des informations importantes sur Paul Goma en Roumanie, en France et en Hongrie, et leur disponibilité pour les chercheurs.

Collaboration in isolation: Migrating legacy finding aids during a pandemic

This paper describes a project conducted at Franklin & Marshall College Archives and Special Collections (A&SC) to migrate legacy archival finding aids to ArchivesSpace. This project, completed remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, required project team members to address not only user needs for the online discovery of collections, but also the gaps between legacy finding aids and modern archival standards. This paper discusses how these concerns manifested in specific data clean-up issues and the strategies — and compromises — developed to address them. The paper also describes how workflows were developed, implemented and revised in the pandemic context. In particular, it details how the work of both A&SC staff and staff from other library units was leveraged to complete the project successfully. The case study provides insights on successes and lessons learned related to communication in a remote work project. Finally, the paper discusses the impact of the project on work in A&SC today.

K. H. Ahmad Dahlan: Konsep dan Implementasi “Kemanusiaan” (1912-1936)

Ahmad Dahlan is an Islamic reformer known for one of his concepts of humanity (compassion). This research aims to examine Ahmad Dahlan's thoughts and practices about the humanitarian concept of "compassion" based on love to unite people who are part of the basic values of the prophetic spirit. This research employed the historical method utilizing sources from the results of previous studies, Verslag Openbare Vergedering PKO (No. 10), and a collection of photo archives from the K.H. Ahmad Dahlan Foundation. The research results show that Ahmad Dahlan applied the concept of "compassion" in community life rather than memorizing the concept in developing the idea of humanity based on the Al-Quran (surah Al-Ma'un). Ahmad Dahlan's ideas began to be applied by his pupils by doing charity to the beggars. A more real realization of that idea was the establishment of General Suffering Helpers (later to become PKO Muhammadiyah Hospital), orphanages, and others.

Genetic and genealogical (genealogical) study of the genus Nilogovoi (based on the DNA of autosomes)

The article deals with the problem of genetic and genealogical (genealogical) verification of the documentary pedigree of the Nilogovs, reconstructed by the methods of classical genealogy. Thanks to the testing of male and female representatives of the genus Nilogov on the DNA of autosomes, it was possible to genealogically confirm the documentary pedigree of the author of the article to his direct ancestor Semyon Danilovich Nilogov, who lived in the XVIII century. The object of study is the biological pedigree of the Nilogovs, and the subject is the archival and documentary reconstruction of the pedigree of the Nilogovs before the XVIII century. The source base of the work was the collections of such archives as: the State Archive of the Perm Territory, the Komi-Permyatsky District State Archive, the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, the archive of the city of Minusinsk; personal archives of several Nilogov families were also used. The novelty of the work is the application of modern genetic and genealogical methodology for the objectification of a specific documentary pedigree by certifying biological kinship in the "descendant – ancestor" chain. Specifically, the genetic relationship of two distant relatives N. A. Nelogov and R. A. Arinicheva was studied at the level of the sixth degree. Thanks to testing of autosomal DNA of these donors, it was possible to identify their common nucleotide segments (text sequences in the form of nitrogenous bases), after which, using the statistical database of genetic kinship, The Shared cM Project 4.0., it was possible to confirm the documented reconstructed pedigree. The introduction of modern methods of molecular genetics (biological science) into scientific genealogy (historical science) is an actual trend of systemic (interdisciplinary) research.

Sailing Through Totalitarian Regimes. The Profile of a Shipping Company at the Lower Danube: Maritime Intercontinental

ABSTRACT This study presents the context of the emergence and evolution of the Maritime Intercontinental shipping company in Brăila. The methodological approach rests on novel methods used entrepreneurship history researchers, who have developed patterns of analysis of entrepreneurs. In this article, the shipping company and its shareholders are superimposed on the template developed by the researcher Carlos Dávila. In writing this study, beyond the theoretical and statistical information known to specialists in the history of economics and entrepreneurship, we have managed to identify unpublished sources stored in the archive collections of Romanian ports. The archival materials analysed took us through the borderless universe of entrepreneurship around the Second World War. Based on the sources consulted, we sailed the Danube and the seas of the world to reach from Brăila to Naples, the port where ‘Il Comandante’ Achille Lauro thrived.

Sufi historical and cultural monuments in Bashkortostan: based on the materials from the archival collections of Arabic manuscripts of Ufa

This article is devoted to the description of historical and cultural monuments of Bashkortostan in the form of Sufi Arabic handwritten works concentrated in the funds of their storage of the Department of Rare Books and Publications of the National Library of the Republic of Bashkortostan named after. Ahmed-Zaki Walidi and the Department of Rare Books of the Scientific Library of the Ufa Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Based on the study and analysis of these sources, introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, it was possible to identify the nature, process, and features of the spread and development of Sufism in Bashkortostan. The variety of Sufi handwritten works in the collections of Ufa city and their wide chronological framework, represented by the Late Middle Ages and the period of Modern times, indicate the demand for these historical and cultural monuments among the Muslim population of the region in the pre-revolutionary period.

Engagement with decolonizing archival practices in the UK archives sector: a survey of archives workers’ attitudes

ABSTRACT Decades of archives scholarship highlight colonial influences in archival collections as well as archival praxis. This research project explored the extent to which archives workers in the UK feel prepared and equipped to engage professionally with decolonizing archival practices. I conducted an anonymous online survey of workers across the archives sector to gauge their attitudes to different decolonizing practices in archives and their openness to participating in such initiatives. This article discusses and mobilizes my findings to suggest ways to encourage engagement with decolonizing practices across the sector. Participants were asked about their professional background and their initial understanding and feelings about archival decolonization before rating statements reflecting different decolonizing approaches and sharing final comments. Responses reflected a strong degree of openness towards different decolonizing practices, particularly increasing (digital) access and sharing ownership. There was support for change led from within the sector based on collaborative approaches, while there was some resistance to what was considered a politicizing of the issue. I propose ways forward centred on communication, collaboration, and peer support across the sector, particularly in exploring ways to accommodate decolonizing approaches into archival praxis.

Gestural Disruptions: Conjuring Resonance in Chiara Fumai’s I Did Not Say or Mean “Warning”

In 2013, artist Chiara Fumai performed I Did Not Say or Mean “Warning” at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice, Italy, a cultural institution housing an archive and art collection of mainly Baroque and Rococo paintings. Acting as a guide, Fumai led visitors on a tour of artworks by celebrated male artists, focusing her attention on the women depicted and largely left out of the historical record. As though provoked by their erasure, the spirit of an Italian anarcho-feminist of the 1970s possesses the artist, giving voice to the silenced women confined to the canvas. The fragmented message, delivered in pieces throughout the performance, is communicated in part through sign language used exclusively to communicate terms of aggression and violence. This text examines the significance of Fumai’s mobilization of channeled oral messages, gesture, and active muteness triggered by a visual record of women’s exclusion from the public sphere. Fumai’s use of sign language formally mirrors and rebels against the deafening absence of women’s voices in history, while her channeling of a spirit emanating from an Italian feminist past forges relationships of resonance between women across temporal divides.

The SUCHO Ukrainian War Memes Collection

ABSTRACT Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, internet memes about the war have been widely disseminated through social media, both in Ukraine and abroad. The Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) initiative uses crowdsourcing to collect Ukrainian war memes. Community submissions are curated and published on the interactive online SUCHO Meme Wall. The resulting archival collection is diverse in its content and format, preserving an important element of Russo-Ukrainian war discourse and offering unique material for research and teaching.

Něco málo o cenzuře a cenzurovaných textech

This paper draws attention to three archival collections of the public prosecutor’s offices deposited in the State Regional Archives in Třeboň that contain the agenda of press control and censorship interventions. Selected newspapers from the turn of the 20th century document how censors monitored press production and the reflection of social situation, how and on the basis of what legislation censors analysed texts, how they changed or completely confiscated the texts, whether the circulation was partially or completely destroyed, and which institutions were involved in the process. As these archival collections preserve both the original and final forms of newspapers, they represent an important platform for the study of the history of journalism.

Archival Collections at Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Abstract: The National Park Service administers from its offices in Boulder City, Nevada what was designated as the Lake Mead National Recreational Area in 1936. The NPS manages approximately 1.5 million acres of land and water making up the Recreational Area created by the 120-mile-long reservoir behind Hoover Dam named Lake Mead. The Lake and its environs present multiple recreational resources, including natural, cultural, archaeological, and historical sites. Professionally archived records at the Recreational Area's headquarters offer researchers in multiple fields of inquiry photographs, maps, planning documents, drawings, information on relations with indigenous peoples, and land records. Researchers will find convenient finding aids and trained archivists to assist.

Gestão de riscos em arquivos proposição de um método para priorização de ações para o impedimento da perda do patrimônio documental

In view of the recurring disasters,that put archival collections at risk,and the complex nature of addressing this issue, especially given the limited financial resources allocated to these sectors, we propose a method to assist managers of archival institutions or sectors in prioritizing actions to prevent the loss of documentary heritage and institutional memory. We utilized the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) multicriteria method in conjunction with the integrated Fine-Mosler model to develop this method. The proposed approach is exemplified through the central archives of two public agencies. Our results demonstrate that this method is an effective tool for defining the order of priorities for preservation actions that must be taken for archival collections.

«КАК УЕТУ ОПЯТЬ ОТСЮДА НА СВОЮ РОДИНУ». РЕПАТРИАЦИЯ В СССР ПЕРЕМЕЩЕННЫХ В ФИНЛЯНДИЮ ИНГЕРМАНЛАНДСКИХ ФИННОВ В 1944–1945 ГГ. (ПО МАТЕРИАЛАМ КОЛЛЕКЦИИ ПИСЕМ ИЗ СОБРАНИЯ ЛЕНИНГРАДСКОГО ОБЛАСТНОГО ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО АРХИВА В Г. ВЫБОРГЕ)

A valuable material for studying the history of resettlement in Finland and the subsequent repatriation of the Ingrian Finns during the Second World War is provided by sources of personal origin. In the collection of the Leningrad Region State Archive in Vyborg, there is a collection of letters shedding light on the social and living conditions of the displaced Ingrians, their families and friendships, interaction with the authorities and the Finnish people, their moods and reactions to the events taking place at the front and in international politics. These are letters in Russian and in Finnish, as well as in the Ingrian dialect. Most of the documents in the collection refer to the final stage of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1941–1944 and to the period after the conclusion of the armistice, when the possibility of repatriating the Ingrians to the USSR began to be discussed. The most important theme in the letters is homesickness and discussions with relatives of the problem of returning. The documents eloquently testify that many Ingrian settlers were never able to start a new life in Finland, considered it a foreign country for themselves, persistently emphasized national differences with the Finns, connection with Russian culture, and dreamed of returning home.

Инициативная сельская журналистика в системе формирования обратной связи органов власти и населения в Камчатском округе в 1928–1930-х гг. (на примере материалов газеты «Полярная звезда»)

The article analyzes the measures of the district authorities aimed at stimulating the Selkor movement in the Kamchatka District, as well as the most relevant topics covered by correspondents from the field. The study was based on documents from the collections of the State Archives of the Kamchatka Territory and publications of rural correspondents in the newspaper “Polyarnaya Zvezda” in 1928–1930. The analysis and systematization of the topics of articles of rural correspondents were carried out, the most relevant topics were identified. These include notes on the exposure of the kulaks, the activities of reading huts, the organization of revolutionary holidays, the conduct of fur procurement, the anti-religious campaign, the popularization of collective forms of economic activity, and others. The author shows the informational interaction of the editorial office of the newspaper “Polyarnaya Zvezda” with rural correspondents, which was carried out through a special heading “Mailbox”. The messages in the sections “What was done according to the notes” and “Responses to the notes”, created to provide feedback from the authorities with the population, are given special attention in the article.

Folklore “Historical” Narrative Within the Context of Landscape Mythology (Russian-Belarusian Borderlands)

The article presents a narrative and structural analysis of texts from the collection of the State Archive of the Smolensk region reflecting folk beliefs about cult trees. These records can be regarded as “historical” narratives in which trees, being objects of folk veneration (ritual practices aimed at healing) and superstition (“treasure under a tree” legend), are at the same time associated with historical or quasi-historical events (adventures of local robbers, the 1812 Patriotic War). Stories about unusual trees demonstrate a close connection with the mythology of space, and the natural objects themselves are peculiar markers for the collective memory, conveying knowledge about the past with reliance on the local landscape.

Armenian Virtual Observatory: Status and activities

Among all astronomical data, a large spectroscopic database is especially useful for understanding the nature of all observed objects. The Astrophysical Virtual Observatories (AVOs) have been created in a number of countries using their available databases and current observing material as a collection of interoperating data archives and software tools to form a research environment for processing complex data-intensive and compute-intensive research workflows. The Armenian Virtual Observatory (ArVO) is a project of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) aimed at construction of a modern system for data archiving, extraction, acquisition, reduction, use and publication. ArVO is based on the Digitized First Byurakan Survey (DFBS) and is the Armenian contribution to the International Virtual Observatories Alliance (IVOA). One of the ArVO’s main tasks is to create and utilize a global Spectroscopic Virtual Observatory, which will combine data from DFBS and other low-dispersion spectroscopic databases, as well as provide the first understanding on the nature of any object up to B=18m. Hence, ArVO will utilize the DFBS as an appropriate large spectroscopic database. In the frame of ArVO, BAO collaborates with the Institute of Informatics and Automation Problems (IIAP) of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia to develop software ecosystem for ArVO satisfying the IVOA standards. Besides the DFBS, ArVO provides access to the Digitized Second Byurakan Survey (SBS) database, the Byurakan photographic archive, and BAO 2.6 m and 1 m Schmidt telescopes modern observations.

Тамбовский земский ремесленно-воспитательный приют для несовершеннолетних правонарушителей: к истории создания и деятельности

Importance. The development of any scientific problem should be based on an analysis of the previous history of its development. The study of the experience and patterns of execution of punishments for juvenile offenders is no exception. The purpose of the study in a broad sense is to identify and analyze the historical experience of the formation and development of penitentiary institutions for the maintenance of convicted adolescents at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In a narrow sense, the main task is to determine the role and place of the Tambov shelter in the matter of re-education and preventive influence on already convicted and potential criminals who have not reached the age of majority. Materials and methods Research. The object of research is determined here by the totality of social relations that took place during the implementation of the activities of the Tambov zemstvo vocational and educational orphanage for juvenile offenders. The basic sources are materials from the collections of the State Archives of the Tambov Region, publications and relevant legal acts. Traditional and new research methods are used to implement the tasks set. Let us name the historical-chronological method as the first ones, and elements of narrative and axiological approaches as the second ones. Results and Discussion. The reasons outlined for the creation of a craft and educational orphanage, its structure; conditions of maintenance, study and pupils’ work. A comparative description of some of the similar institutions operating in other provinces is given. The main administrative and educational means used to achieve the set goals are determined. Estimates of the effectiveness of the work being done are given. Conclusion. The materials of the study testify to the positive consequences of replacing imprisonment for juvenile delinquents by sending them to correctional orphanages and colonies. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the main provisions and conclusions made in the study can be used both in local history work and in the formation of modern criteria for the activities of juvenile justice.

ДЕЛО "КОНТРРЕВОЛЮЦИОННОЙ ГРУППИРОВКИ ЦЕРКОВНИКОВ Г. ЕГОРЬЕВСКА" 1935 Г. КАК ПРИМЕР ПРЕСЛЕДОВАНИЯ ОРГАНАМИ НКВД ДВИЖЕНИЯ "НЕПОМИНАЮЩИХ" В ПРАВОСЛАВНОЙ РОССИЙСКОЙ ЦЕРКВИ (ПО МАТЕРИАЛАМ ГА РФ, ГА СО И ЦГА Г. МОСКВЫ)

The article deals with the case of the “counter-revolutionary group of churchmen, consisting of the monks, nuns and former people of the town of Yegoryevsk”, that began in April 1935. Among the defendants in the case were the monastics, the representatives of the white clergy from the temples in the town of Yegoryevsk and the surrounding area, as well as the laypeople who took an active church position. The formal charges brought against the members of the “counterrevolutionary group” were reduced to anti-Soviet agitation aimed at disrupting the events organized by the Soviet government, directed to spreading false rumors about its imminent downfall and to organizing a secret church. However, the archival documents indicate that the main purpose of the initiated case was an attack on the believers who did not accept the 1927 Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius of Nizhny Novgorod (Stragorodsky), the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, and who formed the groups of the True Orthodox Church and the non-commemorators. In the mid-1930s. those groups were mostly filled by the priests and clergymen returning from exile who were forced to settle outside the 100-kilometer zone from Moscow, in the towns such as Yegoryevsk, Pokrov, Alexandrov, etc. The material is based on the documents from the collections of the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the State Archives of the Smolensk Region and the Central State Archives of the Moscow Region

Portrait of the Ukrainian Capital Defenders in Award Documents for the Medal "For the Defense of Kyiv"

The purpose of the work is to analyse the informative potential of little-known documents from the collection of the State Archive of Kyiv (SAK) which describe the awarding process for the medal for the defense of Kyiv in July-September, 1941. We determine the reliable number of awardees, as well as create a socio-demographic collective portrait of them. For the first time the documents for the medal "For the Defense of Kyiv" from the funds of the SAK are considered as a source of scientific research in the field of restoring the national memory of the Ukrainians and for the first time as well they are comprehensively introduced into scientific circulation. From decision protocols and the witness testimonies, award letters, etc., it’s possible to distinguish the main categories of persons who applied for awards, to divide them by gender, age, and types of work they did during the defense of Kyiv. The reporting documentation of the awards department of the Kyiv City Council for the period 1962–1992 provides rich material for the reconstruction the image of city defenders, studying the ways of involvement for the civilian population in defence work, as well as understanding the course of the awarding process over the 30 years. Prospects for further studies are possible through the further, more detailed prosopographic and demographic studies, the search for new information about awarding, further research work related to the period of June-September 1941. Personal information about people in award letters is also a valuable source of information for genealogical research.

Sbírkotvorná činnost Muzea Klementa Gottwalda – aktuální poznatky kurátorky

Examining the three-dimensional collections of the Klement Gottwald Museum in Prague (KGM), with an overlap into the context of its archival, library and audiovisual collections, allows for a demonstration of the basic aspects involved in the process of building a specialised museum collection. In this case, the focus is on the interpretation of Czechoslovak history in the 20th century. Throughout its operational period (1952–1990), the museum focused on presenting the history of the workers’ movement and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. In order to provide an insight into the genesis of the KGM’s collections, three main sources of information have been identified: the institution’s registry, collection records, and the presentation of the collection items in promotional materials. The text presents one possible perspective on the exploration of sources and their potential to provide an understanding of the origins of this unique collection. The initial compilation of sources for the work of the collection’s curator is summarised here for the needs of the professional public in order to stimulate the interest in the real impact of theoretical planning of museum activities.