@article{480cb721-e384-4475-a65b-0750b4755c16,
author = {Waldemar Chorążyczewski, Paweł Gut},
title = {History in archives and archives in history. State archives’ share in development of Polish historiography},
journal = {Archeion},
volume = {2019},
number = {120},
year = {2020},
issn = {0066-6041},
pages = {50-88},keywords = {archivist profession; ancillary historical sciences; archival science; historical methodology; humanities; microhistory; social archives; state archives},
abstract = {The objective of this study is to capture the deepest methodological relations between archives and study of history, on one hand constituting archives as scientific institutions and on the other, guaranteeing history’s status as a discipline of science. Polish state archives are, for us, the space in which it is easiest to observe phenomena and trends we are interested in, and at the same time an opportunity for broader consideration, as in probably every country the state archives determine general direction for the development of the entire archival field. We treat Polish historiography in the same way, understanding that no discipline, even humanist or social, is ever national; it is only being practised in one or other country. Source base for such study are of course first and foremost texts, published traditionally or on the Internet, expressing the positions and views of persons particularly active in scope of reflection over the past, present and future of the archival field.
The mutual discovery of history and archives took place during the Enlightenment and Romanticism eras, and resulted in reinforcement of history’s position as a discipline of science, pursued predominantly at the universities, and emergence of new type of archival institutions, increasingly linked with administration and the judiciary (although these links have never disappeared), but first and foremost with study of history. The professional ethos of archivists has emerged, no longer as lawyers and clerks, but university-educated historians. On occasion, a university professor, who at the same time was the director of archives, would deliberately employ his students in the archives so they could obtain a scholarly polish. Archives became the training ground for academic scholars, and at the same time they were happy to employ historians with appropriate recommendations from University professors. History faculties at universities educated either archivists as such, or skilful archive users, who understood well the specificity of archival work. Next to scientific libraries, archives have become a natural working environment for historians. Archival fonds were used for scientific research at the same time, or frequently even jointly, by historians employed at universities and historians employed as curators of archival materials. Archives, and in particular the research facilities, have become places of meetings: of historians with people from the past, speaking through archival materials, with archivists and with other historians. Professional ethos of an archivist emerged, as that of a person scientifically competent to find desired archival materials, read them verbatim and interpret them, i.e. conduct complete critique of the source.
20thcentury brought on one more area of activity for the archives, which is pivotal for the study of history, namely shaping the archival fonds, including determination of what would constitute historical sources available in archives and allowing construction of learned structures of the past. Many controversial decisions are made in this field. Theory of selection born within the modernist, processual history, is not satisfactory to current historians of everydayness, mentality and microhistory. State archives are trying to somehow keep up with the transformations of the study of history, not entirely successfully though. Social archives, geared specifically to document the life of small social groups, are of assistance here.
In the era of postulated broad availability of archives to everyone, including the unskilled users, many methods and principles of archival work are subject to revision. It will not lead to disappearance of educated historians from archives. Their very background will always put them in a privileged position in archives. The archives will be able to use their knowledge and experience in work with archival materials to fulfil their mission in the information society of the future, especially if not all archivists are going to be historians, which seems a probable turn of events.},
doi = {10.4467/26581264ARC.19.002.11811},
url = {https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/archeion/article/historia-w-archiwach-i-archiwa-w-historii-udzial-archiwow-panstwowych-w-rozwoju-historiografii-polskiej}
}