Challenges Facing the Archival Field

"However much we protest our objectivity and neutrality, as archivists we cannot avoid casting our own imprint on these powerful sources of knowledge" (Jimerson, 2006, p. 21).

There are a variety of challenges facing the archival field today, and one of these challenges is neutrality. Libraries and archives are viewed in our society as great sources of information. If you want to find historical information, whether that be art, manuscripts, books or audio/visual materials, archives are more than likely going to be the first place that you will go, as they are the repositories for our history. However, when taking a closer look at the materials that archives have available to the public, it is often found that certain stories are missing. The stories that are missing are of those who fall outside the societal normal that has been in place for generations, or moments in history that the government would like to forget (Freshwater, 2003; Jimerson, 2006). The societal and political "standard" was, and in some places continues to be, upheld by archivists who decide what historical events and collections are added to history, and which ones are systematically forgotten and erased. These selective processes of forgetting history raises a variety of questions, including: Why were the stories of certain groups and events erased? and What allowed this process to continue for decades?

When thinking about censorship of the materials available in the archives, we must first address the fact that certain pieces of material are left out intentionally to protect personal information (O'Brien & Greyson, 2018). Outside of protecting the privacy of individuals, censorship within archives becomes an ethical issue, as a neutral stance is no longer held. Neutrality is one of the points in the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Code of Ethics (referred to as Judgment), which states that "Decisions should always be made mindfully, aiming to ensure the preservation, authenticity, diversity, and lasting cultural and historical value of materials" (SAA, 2020). When an archivist decides to remove the stories of certain groups, or certain events, they are going against the tenets that all archivists follow when performing their duties, altering history, and causing distrust for the archival field in those who have had their stories removed or altered.

Many of the stories of certain individuals, whether that be feminist groups, BIPOC individuals, or LGBTQ+ groups, have been removed or altered during processing, thus allowing for the overall story of the community to be seen a certain way by the public, generally highlighting those in power or seen as important (Crossdale, 2019; Jimerson, 2006). The stories of government wrongs have been altered, censored, suppressed, or completely removed from history in order to try to tell a story that is favorable for the government (Archive & Public Culture Research Initiative, 2015). These pieces of history were altered or removed to maintain a certain story, and unfortunately, this process was allowed to continue for decades, and in many places, continues to take place.

With the rise in the fight for equality for minority groups and accountability in the last few decades, it begs the question: how has this censorship been able to continue for so long? The simple answer is the allure of archives and all that they possess (Freshwater, 2003). The general population, as well as many of those who work in the archives, feel this allure. Sometimes we lose sight of what the archives do not hold, because we are so distracted by what the archives do hold. The archives make patrons feel like they are looking back into history and seeing into the personal lives of individuals that they did not know, allowing themselves to, for a moment, be part of that history (Freshwater, 2003). This allure, and the feeling of seeing into the life of someone who was considered important enough to make history, clouds the patron’s mind to what is missing, and allows for the cycle of censorship to continue in many places.

When talking about censorship, there are many different groups that are often thought of: the US government and their released information, the German Democratic Republic, or schools and certain books allowed in curriculums. We often do not think of the archives, but unfortunately we should be, as many archives and archival institutions have been selectively removing certain groups and events from history (Jimerson, 2006). This is a low point for the archival field, and one that must be addressed, shared, and improved as we move forward, because the story of everyone who helps to make and shape history should be told, not just those who fit a societal standard or agenda.