American Archives Month

American Archives Month:

Hi! My name is Emily Moran. I’m the Archive Alumni Fellow here at Hampshire and this is my first Hampshire College Archives Blog post! Each month I will be posting about any/all things relating to the archives, particularly here at Hampshire.

October is American Archives Month, which is an opportunity to share knowledge about archives and their roles and functions in communities. Archives are places where original materials are held for the purpose of preserving histories. They exist in various types of buildings/institutions and are for anyone who would like to access them for research or even just personal interest. The items in archives are wide spanning—they often are papers, artifacts , and miscellaneous ephemera. The contents of an archive depend on what type of institution houses the archives and the needs of the community it intends to serve. At Hampshire, the focus of our archive is to preserve institutional history and to make our archival collections accessible to students, researchers, and wider communities. This includes but is not limited to faculty papers, departmental records, student groups, photos of the campus and community, Div IIIs, and financial records. The best way to learn more is to reach out to those who work in the archives. To begin learning about what we have in our collections, you can take a look at some of our online finding aids, though the bulk of our collection is documented in a physical finding aid, which is available via archives staff on the first floor of the Harold F. Johnson library.

During my time as the Archive Alumni Fellow, I have undertaken a wide range of archive-related tasks. I love becoming more acquainted with our collections, history, and community at Hampshire. One of currently priorities in the archives is to more actively collect records that document student organizations. I’d love to connect with current students about their interests, involvements, and to explore how we can draw a bridge between those interests and the range of materials we have.

The College Archivist, Jes, and I hold Infobar sessions each week. They are on Thursdays from 2:30-5:00pm. Please come by to chat! You don’t need to have any specific questions or projects prepared. We are here to have conversations with anyone about anything pertaining to the archives or related topics.

Jes Neal: College Archivist: jcnLO@hampshrie.edu, 413-559-5704

Emily Moran, Archive Alumni Fellow: eemLO@hampshire.edu, 413-559-6892

Shared archives account: archives@hampshire.edu