“ . . . what do I profess as an archivist? Most simply put:
that what we archivists do is essential to the well-being of an enlightened and democratic society
. . .The archival record is a bastion of a just society
. . . The archival record
assures our rights – as
individuals and collectively
– to our ownership of
our history.
As archivists who maintain
the integrity of the
historical record,
we guard our collective
past from becoming the
mere creation of “official history.”
—John A. Fleckner,
Chief Archivist,
National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution |
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