Archives Building Research Articles

Archive buildings: International comparisons

Discusses approaches to building construction in countries where they differ from those in the UK, especially concerning such areas as availability of expertise, adaptation of old buildings, selection of sites, protection in war, and the maintenance of a secure and stable environment. Problems encountered in other countries, such as earthquakes, termites, humidity, and tropical storms, are discussed. The use of building structure (utilizing minimal surface area and heavily insulated walls) to maintain constant relative humidity and temperature is discussed, with the archival building of Cologne taken as a model for late buildings in the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. Ventilation is also shown to be achieved by simple means, e. g., the Chancery Archives of Granada. Basic features of buildings are the same, with differences influenced by local climatic conditions, availability of sites, and attitudes of local government. The future is discussed with an important point made about controlling the environment in repositories while little is known about what happens within storage boxes.

Adapting an Ancient Archives Building in Turin

Describes the restoration and adaptation of the eighteenth century Royal Archives palace in Turin for use as the State Archives. Three imperatives had to satisfied: archival efficiency, the safeguarding of the architectural heritage and the security of documents and personnel. Summarizes the restoration and modernization work carried out to achieve these objectives.

International seminar on archive building: Vienna 1985

International seminar on archive building: Vienna 1985

Emerging Pathophysiological Concepts in Hypertension

Essential hypertension is now considered a disease of pressure regulation implicating a multiplicity of physiological mechanisms. It is probably genetically predisposed and is associated with altered sensitivity to the sodium ion and a more than chance association with other clinical diseases. New concepts are emerging concerning the interrelationships of these pressor mechanisms and the other factors involved with circulatory control. An inscription on the United States Archives Building reads, "What is past is prologue." It would seem that as we understand more about the fundamental information concerned with the interrelationships of those mechanisms implicated in Page's mosaic, improved therapy will result in further improvements in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Indeed, the new knowledge acquired will stimulate further inquiry not only into hypertension but also into other related cardiovascular diseases.

Archives and the Practice of Public History

EVERY SPRING and all summer long, grade school children and grandparents alike make reverent pilgrimages to the nation's capital to view the reconstructions of historic rooms and the displays of First Ladies' dresses or relics of flight at the Smithsonian museums. More than 800,000 annual visitors view the Declaration of Independence in the main exhibit hall of the National Archives Building. Others stand in line for hours to walk through the gracious rooms of the White House and Mount Vernon. Americans venerate their history and revere its artifacts almost as an article of faith. Their historical research institutions, however, are inadequately supported. Historians and archivists share a place near the bottom level of national cultural priorities. They are rarely involved in the basic mission or functions of the public institutions whose history they seek to document. Records are mere by-products of program activities, and histories are often seen by program managers as little more than public relations efforts. Historical and records programs are usually the last to

Earth Science, Mapping Exhibit at National Archives

An exhibit reflecting the history of exploration and mapping of the United States from the early surveys of he western frontier to examples of modern space age mapping will be on public display from June 20 to October 15,1979, in the National Archives building, Pennsylvania Avenue and Eighth Street, N. W., Washington, D.C.The exhibit, consisting of panels, photographs, original documents, paintings, and maps, is a cooperative effort by the National Archives and the U.S. Geological Survey in recognition of the Survey's centennial year.

The Empty Shrine: The Transfer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the National Archives

In 1952 the Library of Congress transferred the original engrossed copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the National Archives. Together with the Bill of Rights, they are the Charters of Freedom, the most precious documents in the National Archives of the United States. The story of why the shrine in the Exhibition Hall of the Archives Building, especially designed for the exhibit of these documents, was empty for almost twenty years, and how the Library of Congress finally transferred custody of the two great documents to the National Archives, has never before been told.1 The ceremony when they left the library on Saturday, December 13, 1952, was a spectacular event. Brigadier General Stoyte O. Ross, commanding general of the Air Force Headquarters Command, formally received the documents at the Library of Congress at 1 1 a.m. Twelve members of the Armed Forces Special Police carried the six parchment documents, encased in helium-filled glass cases and enclosed in wooden crates, through a cordon of eighty-eight servicewomen down the library steps. The boxes were placed on mattresses in an armored Marine Corps personnel carrier. A color guard, ceremonial troops, the Army Band, the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps, two light tanks, four servicemen carrying submachine guns, and a motorcycle escort paraded down Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues to the Archives Building. Both sides of the street along the parade route were lined by Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marine, and Air Force personnel. General Ross and the twelve Special Policemen arrived at the National Archives Building at 11:35 a.m., carried the crates up the steps, and formally delivered them into the custody of Wayne Grover, the archivist of the United States. Two days later, at 10:15 a.m. on Monday, December 15, 1952, the formal enshrining ceremony was equally impressive. Officials of more than 100 national civic, patriotic, religious, veterans, educational, business, and labor groups crowded into the Exhibition Hall. Fred M. Vinson, chief justice of the United States, presided. After the invocation by the Reverend Frederick Brown Harris, chaplain of the Senate, Governor Elbert N. Carvel of Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution, called the roll of states in the order in which they ratified the Constitution or were admitted to the Union. As each state was called, a servicewoman carrying the state flag entered the Exhibition Hall and remained at attention in front of the display

The ICA and Technical Assistance to Developing Countries

While international archival affairs have played a relatively minor role in activities of SAA, it is interesting to recall that Society was involved in two most significant decisions in history of International Council on Archives its founding in 1948 and its decision in 1966 to give highest priority to technical assistance for archives in developing countries. Both decisions are related to meetings in Washington. The first, in 1946, has been described by Oliver Holmes who had a significant involvement in founding of ICA, and second in 1966 by Morris Rieger, one of organizers of Extraordinary Congress and an active participant in subsequent history of ICA. One of most significant features of Extraordinary Congress in 1966 was worldwide representation made possible by travel grants from Council on Library Resources. Thus, impact of representatives from developing countries was felt for first time, with a resulting emphasis on their needs. The author of a report to SAA on congress observed that the Congress appears to have wandered quite far from its basic theme of scholarly access. The resolutions were much less concerned with this than with urgent need for archival technical assistance to underdeveloped regions of world.1 These resolutions included recommendations 1 ) that UNESCO make regular provision in its budgets for technical assistance to developing countries; 2) that a permanent joint ICA-UNESCO technical assistance planning and coordinating group be established; 3) that there be compiled an international roster of archivists competent to undertake technical assistance missions, as a sort of archival peace corps; 4) that regional archival pilot projects be established in East and West Africa; 5) that a study of film preservation in tropics be undertaken by ICA; and 6) that regional branches of ICA be set up in Southeast Asia and Africa. Most of resolutions were based on a report on activities and problems of ICA by Charles Kecskemeti, executive secretary of ICA. He stressed importance of technical assistance to developing countries and need to create regional branches of ICA, which were provided for in constitution but had not been established because of lack of financial resources. He reviewed progress of publications relating to developing countries, chiefly series of Guides to Sources of History of Nations, commenced in 1959 with a subsidy from UNESCO, and manuals on archives in tropics (Y. Perotin, 1966), archives in Latin America (A. Tanodi, 1961), and on archival buildings and equipment (M. Duchein, 1966). He reported a project in UNESCO program for a pilot project to create a model archives service in an African country. He referred to studies on

Vancouver City Archives : A New Resource

The City of Vancouver Archives until about three years ago consisted of miscellaneous material collected by Major J.S. Matthews, self-appointed, and later officially appointed, City Archivist from 1929 to 1970. After Major Matthews death in 1970, a new City Archives building was built, a professional staff was recruited, and an active acquisitions and inventory program was begun. Already some two hundred seventy-five private collections (additional manuscripts) have been organized and are available for research. As well, a Preliminary Inventory3 Volume 1, has been published and a second volume is off to the printers. As a result of the active acquisitions program, and the coincidence of the renovations program at City Hall with the opening of the new City Archives building, over one hundred tons of city records have been transferred to the archives in the past sixteen months. Though it will take considerable time and effort to organize all this material, the City Archives in Vancouver is now able to offer the professional urban researcher one of the most complete collections of urban material available anywhere in Canada. For not only does the total collection offer the privately donated materials of individuals, institutions, businesses, unions, clubs, associations, and societies, and the public records of civic departments and boards (in most cases from their origins) but it also includes historical photographs; maps, plans and charts; books, periodicals and pamphlets; and, paintings, drawings, and prints. As well, considerable quantities of microfilm, microfiche, and audio records have been donated, transferred, or loaned to the Archives.

Shelving and Office Furniture for Archives Buildings

Shelving and Office Furniture for Archives Buildings

Abstracts of Foreign Periodicals

s of Foreign Periodicals FRANK B. EVANS, Editor Archivum, vol. 16 (1966). L'Ouverture des Archives a la Recherche: Actes du Congres international extraordinaire des Archives (Washington, 9-13 mai 1966) (Opening Archives to Research: Proceedings of the International Extraordinary Congress on Archives, Washington, May 9-13, 1966) The Proceedings, published only at the end of 1969 after many delays, fulfill the requirement for printing the official record of the Congress. There were four working sessions, each of which consisted of two reports followed by discussion. Speech by Robert H. Bahmer (U.S.). P. 17-18. Dr. Bahmer opened the proceedings by welcoming the delegates on behalf of the Society of American Archivists and the National Archives of the United States. After acknowledging the support given to the Congress by the Council on Library Resources, Inc., he read letters from Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Charles Braibant, past president of the International Council on Archives. Speech by Charles Frankel (U.S.). P. 19. In his address Dr. Frankel observed that regardless of the varying ideas held by delegates about the nature of history, societies make social and intellectual progress only to the extent that self-knowledge exists among their inhabitants. Effective thinking about the present and the future depends upon the accuracy of our perceptions of what we have been and what we have done; archivists are responsible for preserving the evidence. Because archivists work for all men of learning, they work for the cause of international peace. That is why the U.S. Government regards this meeting as of the greatest importance to scholarship and learning and to worldwide friendship. Speech by Etienne Sabbe (Belgium). P. 20. Observing that since opportunities to meet with archivists from all over the world are very few, M. Sabbe noted that the Extraordinary Congress was therefore most welcome. The generosity of the United States made this possible. The discussion of issues put forward for consideration accessibility of Materials for abstracting and related communications should be sent to Dr. Frank B. Evans, Office of the National Archives, National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. 20408.

Abstracts of Foreign Periodicals

s of Foreign Periodicals FRANK B. EVANS, Editor Archivum, vol. 16 (1966). L'Ouverture des Archives a la Recherche: Actes du Congres international extraordinaire des Archives (Washington, 9-13 mai 1966) (Opening Archives to Research: Proceedings of the International Extraordinary Congress on Archives, Washington, May 9-13, 1966) The Proceedings, published only at the end of 1969 after many delays, fulfill the requirement for printing the official record of the Congress. There were four working sessions, each of which consisted of two reports followed by discussion. Speech by Robert H. Bahmer (U.S.). P. 17-18. Dr. Bahmer opened the proceedings by welcoming the delegates on behalf of the Society of American Archivists and the National Archives of the United States. After acknowledging the support given to the Congress by the Council on Library Resources, Inc., he read letters from Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Charles Braibant, past president of the International Council on Archives. Speech by Charles Frankel (U.S.). P. 19. In his address Dr. Frankel observed that regardless of the varying ideas held by delegates about the nature of history, societies make social and intellectual progress only to the extent that self-knowledge exists among their inhabitants. Effective thinking about the present and the future depends upon the accuracy of our perceptions of what we have been and what we have done; archivists are responsible for preserving the evidence. Because archivists work for all men of learning, they work for the cause of international peace. That is why the U.S. Government regards this meeting as of the greatest importance to scholarship and learning and to worldwide friendship. Speech by Etienne Sabbe (Belgium). P. 20. Observing that since opportunities to meet with archivists from all over the world are very few, M. Sabbe noted that the Extraordinary Congress was therefore most welcome. The generosity of the United States made this possible. The discussion of issues put forward for consideration accessibility of Materials for abstracting and related communications should be sent to Dr. Frank B. Evans, Office of the National Archives, National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. 20408.

Museum of the american Institute of Radiology.

The inscription on the facade of the Archives Building in Washington, D. C, which houses the Declaration of Independence is also today's theme. It is a phrase borrowed from Shakespeare's “The Tempest” which reads: “What's Past Is Prologue.” In one hundred or more years, when radiologic historians look backward into the time-tunnel, the year 1968 will be definitely remembered as the year this Museum opened. The origin of medical museums is obscured by antiquity. Evidence indicates that there was one in Alexandria as early as three hundred years before Christ. Ours is the newest in a long succession and embodies the best obtainable. Although the primary responsibility of the American College of Radiology has been the promotion of radiologic practice through a joint consideration of scientific and socioeconomic aspects, conditions in 1962 made it mandatory that it become increasingly responsive to new needs by establishing new dimensions and by a greater emphasis on cultural and heritable aspects such as a Museum, a History, a Library, an Audiovisual Center, etc.— aspects which I like to refer to collectively as the fine arts of radiology or the radiologic humanities. The American Institute of Radiology is the conglomerate that will supervise all these aspects. In all possible ways the American College of Radiology has heeded the warning that an organization that forgets its past has no future! With this museum it has created a larger service image of itself by accentuating and perpetuating the symbols of American radiology. It has contributed to the enrichment of American radiology by permanently enshrining its heritage. This Museum will present through the use of its collection an intimate and authentic survey of the origins, the development, and the present status of radiology, thus emphasizing the pulse beat of radiologic time. It will insure that the continuous past will flow smoothly into the unpredictable future. It will be a depository for items which must be preserved because of their esthetic, historic, or scientific importance. It will be dedicated to the ideal of rendering educational and cultural services to the radiologic community by the creation of an atmosphere of contemplation in its exhibit halls where the visitor may gain intellectual radiologic stimulation. If, as Henry Adams once remarked philosophically, all experience is an arch to build upon, then, surely, this museum stands upon such an arch.

The William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building

The William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building

The Changing Role of the Archivist

ALL professions involve occupational hazards of one kind or another, and some of those that the archivist faces are well known to us. We have all encountered—and probably encountered many times—the visitor who assumes that we are familiar with all past events since creation, down to the last detail of local or family history. If we do not know who took up the land next great-great-grandfather's holding in the 5th Concession of Toonerville Township, we are poor things indeed. An example comes to mind. Some years ago, when Viscount Alexander was Governor General of Canada, Lady Alexander's secretary telephoned from Government House one morning. Lady Alexander, she told me, would like very much to know who owned the farm, a few miles from Ottawa, on which her great-grandfather, the Duke of Richmond, had died in 1819. I replied that I did not know offhand, but that I was sure I could find out. To which the secretary replied, "Shall I hold the line?" Another hazard is the widespread impression that archivists have no concern with the present—or at least that they are not troubled with matters of any very immediate or pressing concern. Perhaps our surroundings tend sometimes to give such an impression. I happen to have a very pleasant office in the old Public Archives Building in Ottawa, which I shall be sorry to leave when we vacate the building late next year. The pictures on the walls include a reduced version of Gainsborough's portrait of General Amherst, painted originally for Lady Amherst; a fine portrait of Lord Durham, by Sir Thomas Lawrence; the family portraits of Simon McTavish and William McGillivray, the two leading figures in the history of the North West Fur Company, and Orpen's striking portrait of Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada during the First World War. Visitors look at them and say, "My, but you have an interesting job!" (which of course is perfectly true) ; and they settle down comfortably under the impression that a person with such surroundings cannot possibly have very much to do.

MUSEUM OF RADIOLOGY.

The inscription on the facade of the Archiv-es Building in Washington, D. C., which houses the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, reads: What is Past is Prologue The primary responsibility of the American College of Radiology is the promotion of radiologic practice through a joint consideration of scientific and socio-economic aspects. Conditions now make it mandatory however, that it be increasingly responsive to new needs by establishing new dimensions and by a greater emphasis on cultural and heritable aspects such as the Museum, the History, the Library, etc. — aspects which I like to refer to collectively as the “fine arts of radiology” or the “radiologic humanities.” The Executive Committee of the American College of Radiology Foundation has approved the following : 1. The appointment of Mr. Robert T. Morrison of the Eastman House, Rochester, N. Y., as Curator of the Museum. This is now a combined function of the Foundation and Dr. Edwin Ernst's Council for Radiologic Heritage. 2. The empowering of the Museum Committee and Mr. Morrison to initiate and carry out an intensive search for the location, identification, authentication, and registration of all possible museum items. The Museum will further its aims by presenting through the use of its collection an intimate and authentic survey of the origins, the development, and the present status of radiology, thus punctuating the pulse beat of radiologic time. It will insure that the continuous past will flow smoothly into the unpredictable future. It will be a depository for items which must be preserved because of their esthetic, historic, or scientific importance. It will be dedicated to the ideal of rendering educational and cultural services to the radiologic community by the creation of an atmosphere of contemplation in its exhibit halls. Here the visitor may gain intellectual radiologic stimulation while enjoying the actual exhibits. It will serve as a permanent memorial to our radiologic forebears. Objectives The objectives of the Museum of Radiology may be stated as follows: 1. Adopt a collection policy 2. Locate all heritable items, equipment, etc. 3. Plan the various programs such as the exhibition of equipment, maintenance of a library, the preservation of archival materials such as memorabilia (including letters, books, notebooks, documents, doodling papers, personnel miscellany, photographs, magazines, reprints, business documents, catalogs, lecture notices, manuscripts, roentgenograms, cartoons, society records, teaching material, etc.)

The Georgia Archives Building—A Case Study in Promotion

The Georgia Archives Building—A Case Study in Promotion

Archival Buildings—Programing and Planning

Archival Buildings—Programing and Planning

Surveying for Archives Buildings

Surveying for Archives Buildings

Restrictions against Rail Entry into Other Transportation Fields

When Congress provided for federal regulation of interstate motor vehicle transportation, it took steps to bar railroad entry into the field of unrestricted motor carriage. That policy, consistent with the basic antitrust philosophy expressed in the Sherman Act of I89o1 and other federal antimonopoly statutes, was, and is, sound and should continue in effect. On the Archives Building in Washington, D. C., are two inscriptions. One admonishes: Study the Past; the other informs that What Is Past Is Prologue. A study of the past, it is submitted, will demonstrate vividly the need for protecting other forms of transportation from wholesale rail encroachment. The railroads throughout the country, individually and through their associations, have for some years contended that they are the victims of an outmoded regulatory scheme and, as a result, are not able to render the quality of service of which they are capable, provided only that their managerial discretion were allowed free rein. All they ask, they say, is the opportunity fully and fairly to compete with other modes of transportation, including the privilege of owning and operating such other modes. Most of their ammunition, of late, seems to be directed at this latter