Archival Communities - by Derek Kane O'Leary

About the Book

"Recently, scholars have begun to analyze anew the ways in which the historical archives on which they rely were constructed, finding that early archivists often preserved and thereby privileged only elite stories and perspectives. In this book, historian Derek O'Leary widens the lens to argue that crucial components of America's archives emerged from within an Atlantic world of circulating scholars, evidence, practices, and ideas. As he shows, US archives-and the historical narratives spanned by the documents preserved within them-derived their inspiration, materials, and meaning from this international context. Although he does not contest that archival institutions at the local, state, and national level were the domain of privileged men, O'Leary's Atlantic World frame allows him to uncover a far broader community of people engaged with archives, including women who influenced archival collecting and public perceptions of the nation's historical record"--

Book Synopsis

The story behind the creation of the first archives in the new United States

Archives, the foundational resource for historical research, do not emerge from a vacuum. The records, documents, and data that make up the historian's quarry are never neutral but are themselves the product of historical forces and individual choices. What materials are included in the archive, and why? Whose voices are preserved for posterity, and whose are silenced? In recent years, scholars have increasingly made archives themselves the subject of investigation. With Archival Communities, Derek Kane O'Leary takes up this crucial task for the era of the early United States, arguing that key components of America's archives emerged from within an Atlantic world of circulating scholars, evidence, practices, and ideas.

As he shows, US archives--and the historical narratives spawned by the documents preserved within them--drew their initial materials and meaning from this international context. And while demonstrating the disproportionate imprint of powerful men, O'Leary's Atlantic frame reveals a far broader community of people who engaged in early archival efforts on the national, state, and local levels, including women who influenced the act of collection and public perceptions of the young nation's historical record.

About the Author

Derek Kane O'Leary served as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the University of South Carolina and completed his Ph.D. in History at the University of California, Berkeley.