The University Archives, part of Special Collections and Archives housed in the Coates Library, was created to serve as a repository of historical university materials. This material includes official University records and personal papers and memorabilia from members of the Trinity community.
As the new University Archivist and Records Manager for Trinity, I started this year acclimating to my new role: getting familiar with Trinity’s history; meeting with staff, faculty, and administrators; and diving into the vast amount of boxes housed within the stacks. Needless to say, my acclimating was quickly upended with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I had a brief existential crisis the first week of working from home, as I’m sure many of you all did. I had framed much of my first year around getting the archival stacks in good physical order and continuing to develop the newly established records management program. With so much of my work tied to being on campus, I began to question my purpose in this new context. Then it hit me: This, this life changing event happening right now, is why archives exist.
Archives exist to ensure that we have documentary evidence of events so that we can interpret and understand how and why they occurred. From the start of this crisis, I was saving official correspondence and web archiving the University’s COVID-19 webpage, but this was simply not enough. Doing so only documents one aspect of many different perspectives and experiences of the pandemic. The documentary evidence and heritage of Trinity is more than official records. Our archives exist to preserve the experiences of the larger Trinity community. That means you.
Archivists are conditioned to look ahead and think about what and why something should be archived for historical purposes. I’m sure you will agree that our current crisis is worthy of being documented. A concerted effort is needed to ensure that our university archives will include an honest representation of the pandemic’s impact on the university and the people associated with Trinity – administration, faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, and other stakeholders. Only a Trinity-wide effort can ensure the presence of a well rounded COVID-19 collection for generations.
So how can you help? In short, document and save. Document and save material that is being generated during this time of transition. Material could include correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, memoranda that show decisions made and policies developed. Material could also include your own thoughts and musings in the form of a journal or blog. It could include scrapbooks and zines, and other artistic responses such as visual and performance art. It could be audio visual recordings, social media capture, or class assignments. Document and save. By preserving what we are doing now, the materials we assemble and archive will reveal insights unknown to us at present.
I believe we have the potential to be part of the conversation in regards to COVID-19 and liberal arts higher education in the future if we act now. While we continue to work and learn remotely, I encourage you to share your thoughts through this questionnaire. When we transition back to being on campus I will be calling on you to donate that saved documentation for our archives. Visit the project’s page to learn more or contact me at aschnur@trinity.edu with your questions and for tips and guidance on how to proceed. Thank you for your interest and action!
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