Archivist and Historian: Natural Bedfellows

The Archivist and the Historian. The Hare and the Tortoise. Simon and Garfunkel. Name a more iconic duo? However, similarly to the latter coupling on this list, the former has also shared somewhat of a fraught relationship.Though separate vocations in their own right, there has been a long shared history between these two worlds, which has included some manner of cross-pollination.

The 1929 crash. Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images

The 1929 economic crash brought mass unemployment and social upheaval to the United States, leaving professionals of all backgrounds discontent and destitute. Looking to combat this economic downturn, the Roosevelt Administration introduced a large scale program to put its citizens back into work. Along the lines of the current UK Government’s Rethink, Reskill, Reboot campaign, but without the added controversy . . .

From this program was born the Historical Records Survey of the Works Progress Administration for unemployed members of the historian profession and recent university graduates. Through this project emerged a generation of historians-turned-archivists who gained their skills through necessity and experience, in response to the lack of public record organisation, resources and laws. This budding generation of archivists would soon emerge as the founders of The Society of American Archivists, a pillar of our modern profession.

Despite this example of cross-over between the two occupations, the opinions held toward each other, have not always been cordial ones. According to Patrick M. Quinn, in the past historians have tended to view archivists in the same manner as ‘filling station attendants’, hugely diminishing their importance. While archivists have supposedly viewed historians with ‘resentment’ and ‘jealousy’, borne from their own ‘failed’ history careers.

Brick Hod-Carrier (Source: Wikipedia)

This is not to say that he believed the alliance between the two would not improve when writing in 1977. ‘If in the past the historian has been the bricklayer and the archivist the hod-carrier, the future will witness an equalisation of these roles.’ The prediction of the Archival profession becoming an important entity in its own right, and not just an extension of librarianship or historical research, was wholly accurate as we see today.

Historians are the work-horses of long-term social memory. They strive for integrity in their research and wish to produce objective truth, through which they rely on the authenticity of their historical sources. Often overlooked in this quest for truth, is the role of the keepers of these historical sources. When approaching this collaboration from a historians point of view it seems easy to think of the archivist and their archives as a docile attendant, biding their time waiting for the opportunity to offer up bountiful information for their historian overlords.

However, as Dr. Lionel Loew points out, archives are not ‘passive’ places where information merely ‘sits’ awaiting the day it is put to use. On the contrary, the decisions that an archivist makes day-to-day can have a real impact on the historical research conducted down the line. Historians access only the historical information which has been deemed by the archivist as ‘worthy’ to keep. Through deciding what is to be accessioned into a collection, an archivist curates what is available to researchers, a role which can never be downplayed.

(Source: Lisa P. Rickey)

Further to this, when accessing the information, a historian must rely on the archivist to ‘assess the credibility of a record’, ensuring that their statements can be supported with legitimate evidence. An archive is a vast collection of information which would seem overwhelming to a researcher, and thus an archivist must be depended on to find the right documents with relative speed and accuracy. Without the archivists in-depth knowledge of their collections and the authenticity of the information, a historian would be left floundering under a mass of un-curated knowledge.

Having demonstrated the ways in which these two natural bedfellows depend on one another, it seems inevitable that collaboration will be an ever present facet of their separate careers. This begs the questions, how can the relationship be maintained in a positive way, ensuring the outcome bears fruit for both parties?

When considering this working partnership, Anna St.Onge suggests some approaches which both parties can adopt to ensure a smooth process. These include being aware and considerate of the limitations and constraints present in each of their respective professions. Also, having open and full communication, including reading each others research and understanding the current conversations occurring in each discipline. This allows for a deeper understanding of the motivations behind actions. Lastly, listen openly to complaints and give full and ample acknowledgement of each others work. As Anna puts it ‘sharing is caring, friends, but full citation is an act of reciprocal respect.‘

Like that of a begrudging sibling, these two occupations will always be inextricably linked. It is through understanding the impact and importance each role plays on the other that strong inter relations can be born. Having open communication and fully appreciating the work of both parties, can lead to a highly valuable union.

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Carrier, Richard C., ‘The Function of the Historian in Society’, The History Teacher
Vol. 35, No. 4 (2002), https://www.jstor.org/stable/1512473?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents (Accessed 14 October 2020)

‘Rethink. Reskill. Reboot: Why Government retraining campaign advert from 2019 was pulled after backlash’, i News (2020), https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/rethink-rekill-reboot-government-rertaining-campaign-advert-2019-quiz-backlash-pulled-714159 (Accessed 14 October 2020)

Jessiekratz, ‘The origins of the Society of American Archivists’, National Archives Pieces of History (2018), https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2018/08/13/the-origins-of-the-society-of-american-archivists/ (Accessed 14 October 2020)

Loew, Dr Lionel, ‘The influence of Archivists on Historians’, SAA Business Archives Section Quarterly (N.D), https://basnewsonline.com/project/the-influence-of-archivists-on-historians, (Accessed 14 October)

St.Onge, Anna, ‘Collaboration between archivists and historians: finding a middle ground’, Archive History (2017), https://activehistory.ca/2017/06/collaboration-between-archivists-and-historians-finding-a-middle-ground%E2%9C%9D/ (Accessed 14 October 2020)

Quinn, Patrick M., ‘Archivists and Historians: The Times They Are A-Changin”, The Midwestern Archivist Issue 2.2 (1977), https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/44116/MA02_2_2.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y (Accessed 14 October)

Cover Image: Milo Winter (1919) https://fablesofaesop.com/the-hare-and-the-tortoise.html