“Civilization,” he said,“rests squarely on documents”

From a statement by the Society of American Archivists on International Archives Day:

The International Council on Archives at 60

 

Sixty years ago,the archives of Europe were just starting to recover from World War II. Records were destroyed,damaged,and displaced;archives buildings were dark and cold if not partially in ruins. In Asia,too,records and archives had suffered grievously during the war,but that story was not yet well known in the United States.

 

The years before the war had seen sporadic attempts to create an international association of archivists,but none was successful. Now,in the wake of the massive damage of the war,the time had come.

 

As the 1946 president of the Society of American Archivists,Solon J. Buck used his presidential address to call for an international association of archivists. “Civilization,” he said,“rests squarely on documents,” and archivists everywhere should be concerned with the preservation of the “archives of mankind.” With the support of SAA,the National Archives,and the Library of Congress,Buck proposed to the then-new UNESCO that it call a world congress of archivists to establish an international association. UNESCO agreed,and the organizing meeting took place June 9–11,1948. The group,which included representatives from Czechoslovakia,France,Great Britain,Italy,Mexico,the Netherlands,Norway,and the United States,with observers from Australia,UNESCO,and the military occupation authorities of Germany,founded the International Council on Archives.

 

Today the International Council on Archives is exactly that:international. It has branches throughout the world,and now has as members professional associations such as SAA,archives other than national archives,and individuals. It is a resilient 60-year-old.

 

The Society of American Archivists,as in 1946,is committed to cooperation in support of archives throughout the world. Although the situation that led to the founding of ICA—the massive damage of the Second World War—is long past,archives today remain threatened by war,natural disaster,and the unwitting actions of people. On this 60th anniversary of the ICA,the Society of American Archivists marks its unshakable conviction that,as Buck said,civilization rests on documents and archives truly are the heritage of humankind.

The International Council on Archives XVIth Congress will be held in Kuala Lumpur from 21-27 July,and is titled “Archives,Governance,and Development:Mapping Future Society.”Most of the sessions sound extremely interesting. Because the philosophies and histories of archival development vary between countries (and in some cases,vary quite a lot),conferences like the ICA can be valuable tools for sharing best practices across cultures. I’m hoping to make it to an ICA conference in the next few years…perhaps when it’s a bit closer to home than Malaysia.