Whitewater: An archival angle

Abstract

As an archivist and special collections librarian I am sometimes asked, "What is the use of all that old stuff? Isn't it just kept for genealogists and stuffy guys in tweed jackets?" I usually answer with some defensive prattle about such material being the "memory of mankind" and try to appeal to the questioner's sense of patriotism; but lately I've been thinking that a good case for relevance can be based on contemporary events. If I can show that the material I care for is the same grist for the mill as that used by Geraldo and Limbaugh, perhaps I can convince those skeptical taxpayers that an archive is an exciting (not to mention necessary) function of a free society.