Archives Found

This kind of thing just makes me sick.

A state archivist was charged Monday with stealing hundreds of artifacts — documents representing “the heritage of all Americans,” according to the history buff who found some of them on eBay — to pay his household bills. Yahoo article here.

How was this discovered, you ask? NYT Article: History Buff Uncovers Theft of American History Treasures

When I think about the irreplaceable items that have been entrusted to my care, and to the care of other archivists, I feel a sense of pride and of responsibility. To think that an archivist would betray that public trust is upsetting, and frankly, disturbing, to me.

How did this archivist know what to steal? He literally wrote the book. Daniel Lorello was the author of The Union Preserved: A Guide to Civil War Documents in the New York State Archives. Knowing the value of these documents to collectors and historians, he was caught while selling a letter written by John C. Calhoun on eBay.

Best of luck today and in the coming weeks to our friends at the New York State Archives as they try to discern what was stolen, and attempt to recover lost items.

Check out the first installment of Stephen’s journey to the Smithsonian here on the Comedy Central site. The video is labeled “National Treasure Pt. 1″. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who is waiting for the next installment on Monday…

Bill Lamin,  grandson of Pvt. Harry Lamin, has been posting his grandfather’s war letters in “real time” on a blog, simulating the experience that the family had while waiting for updates from Harry during WWI.  I happened to read an article about this on the BBC website (this Telegraph article has more details).

This blog effort is a great example of the fascination and interest that real documents and letters hold for people. What an interesting way to promote the need for preservation of the past. Even though this wasn’t set up by an archive (that I could find, anyway), I think that it would be an interesting way to set up some kind of interactive exhibit, outreach website, or display. Promoting the concept that history was once the present, and that these documents connect us to the past– I can get behind that.

Link to WWi: Experiences of an English Soldier

Link to War Diary of the 9th Battalion of York & Lancaster Regiment