In Search of a Theory of Private Archives: The Foundational Writings of Jenkinson and Schellenberg Revisited

  • Robert Fisher

Abstract

Archivists of private fonds often blame the absence of private archives from our professional literature on Sir Hilary Jenkinson and T.R. Schellenberg, whose influential works cast archival theory in English in the mould of the archives of national governments. But a careful reading of Jenkinson and Schellenberg shows that they said much about private archives and, in effect, denied archival status or character to what was called, in their day, historical manuscripts. In drawing a clear their ideas about private archives, its relationship to government archives, and the applicability of their concepts of authenticity, evidence, and value to private archives. Though some of their ideas have not aged well over the intervening years, many of the characteristics of private archives that troubled them still reverberate in the Canadian archival community today, with our present emphasis on accountability and heritage. The article concludes that their thinking about private archives still offers a starting point today for the further development of the theory of private archives.

 

RÉSUMÉ
Les archivistes de fonds privés ont souvent blâmé Sir Hilary Jenkinson et T. R. Schellenberg, dont les oeuvres influentes ont circonscrit la théorie archivistique de langue anglaise aux archives de gouvernements nationaux, d’avoir exclu les archives privées de notre littérature professionnelle. Cependant, une lecture attentive de Jenkinson et de Schellenberg révèle qu’ils ont beaucoup écrit au sujet des archives privées et, qu’en effet, ils ont nié le statut ou le caractère archivistique de ce que l’on appelait à l’époque des manuscrits historiques. En faisant une distinction claire entre les documents d’archives et les manuscrits, ils ont contribué – peut-être sans le vouloir – à la définition des caractéristiques théoriques des archives privées. Cet article examine leurs idées par rapport aux archives privées, la relation entre les archives privées et gouvernementales, ainsi que l’applicabilité aux archives privées de leurs concepts d’authenticité, de preuve et de valeur. Même si certaines de leurs idées paraissent maintenant démodées, plusieurs caractéristiques des archives privées qu’ils considéraient problématiques à l’époque continuent aujourd’hui de résonner dans la communauté archivistique canadienne, avec l’accent que nous plaçons actuellement sur l’obligation de rendre compte et le patrimoine. Cet article conclut que leurs idées au sujet des archives privées offrent encore aujourd’hui un point de départ pour le développement continu d’une théorie des archives privées.

Author Biography

Robert Fisher
Rob Fisher graduated from the University of Toronto in 1988 with a BA in History and Economics, and from the University of Waterloo in 1990 with an MA in Public History. He was employed by the Department of National Defence researching and writing narratives for the official history of the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. He moved to the National Archives of Canada in 1996 as an archivist in the Social and Cultural Archives of the former Manuscript Division, and is currently an archivist in the Social Archives Section of the Canadian Archives and Special Collections Branch. He is presently Chair of the ACA Membership Development Committee. His writing has appeared in scholarly journals (e.g., Archivaria, The Mariner’s Mirror, The American Neptune, Canadian Military History, and The Northern Mariner), and in popular magazines (e.g., The Beaver, Family Chronicle, and Legion Magazine).
Published
2009-07-22
How to Cite
Fisher, Robert. 2009. “In Search of a Theory of Private Archives: The Foundational Writings of Jenkinson and Schellenberg Revisited”. Archivaria 67 (July), 1-24. https://www.archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13205.