Archives Month at the Smithsonian
Archivists bring the past to the present. They’re record collectors, record protectors, keepers of memory. They organize unique, historical materials, and make them available for current and future research.
–Society of American Archivists
October is American Archives Month, a time to focus on the importance of the Smithsonian’s vast collections of archival and historical records and to highlight the many individual Smithsonian archival units responsible for maintaining these rich and complex documentary resources. These records have inherent value as unique originals that both reflect and challenge conventional ideas about our cultural and scientific heritage.
These repositories strengthen the public’s collective memory by preserving and making available meaningful documentation in the form of original letters, data, research files, diaries, scrapbooks, rare printed materials, business records, photographs, maps, motion picture films, video and audio recordings, and other documents.
The Smithsonian’s archival collections form the foundation for research, scholarship, publications, exhibitions, public and educational programs, and outreach. Additionally, archives are essential to support society’s demand for accountability and transparency in government, public, and private institutions.
The Smithsonian Institution has over a dozen archival units that support program areas ranging from art and culture to history and science, and maintain the records documenting the history of the Institution itself.
Questions about Archives Month? Contact a Smithsonian staff member at connollyjo@si.edu
Discover Smithsonian archival resources:
Guide to Smithsonian Archives, Libraries, & Special Collections
Photograph of Charles Lang Freer at his villa in Capri, ca. 1900-1903, from the Charles Lang Freer Papers at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Photograph of pilot Louise Thaden posed in front of her Beechcraft Travel Air 3000 biplane, 1929, from the Louise McPhetridge Thaden Collection at the National Air and Space Museum Archives
Discover our archival resources:
Guide to Smithsonian Archives, Libraries, & Special Collections
“Frederick Douglass, Anacostia, D.C.” visiting card, from the Anacostia Community Museum Archives
Photograph of Alexander Calder, 1954, from the Alexander Calder Papers at the Archives of American Art
Moyen-Congo. Jeune fille Bacongo. [Young Kongo girl. Moyen-Congo, now Democratic Republic of Congo], ca. 1925, EEPA Postcard Collection in the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at the National Museum of African Art