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.

Schedule of Open Houses for Archives Month 2009 [PDF]

Archives 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

Oscar Bluemner sketch, ca. 1920, from the Oscar Bluemner Papers at the Archives of American Art

Glass lantern slide of garden in Pasadena, California, ca. 1930, from the Garden Club of America Collection at the Archives of American Gardens

Discover our archival resources:
Guide to Smithsonian Archives, Libraries, & Special Collections

Photograph of Fremont Davis, Science Service, Records, 1920s-1970s at the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Temporary display of items from the collections, National Air and Space Museum Archives, October 2008

Alice Roosevelt in China, 1905. The Alice Roosevelt Longworth Collection of Photographs from the 1905 Taft Mission to Asia, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives