My fellow classmate Riley Pendergast recently wrote a blog post about an organization called The Citizens Archive of Pakistan. The organization is dedicated to preserving Pakistan’s culture, as well as educating the Pakistani community about their heritage.
What I liked about this post was that it demonstrated the essence of what archives are for. As Sheila explained to the class, an archive is meant to preserve the culture and history of a place, as well as provide sources of reference for people to look back on when needed. Much like what SCU’s archives are to the student body and faculty, TCAP is to the Pakistani community.
The importance of preserving a place or institution’s culture came to my attention as I did archival research myself. I learned so much about the history of the school through reading through flyers, journals, and other documents from decades ago. Even from just skimming through a couple of issues of The Santa Clara, SCU’s student-run newspaper publication that still exists today, I found that SCU was an entirely different place just 50 years ago. I say this in regards to many aspects, such as the clubs that existed, the rules students had to follow, and the student life in general.
The values that SCU upholds, of course, remain the same, but it was interesting to see how the school’s culture and student life compares to how it is now. Change, after all, is inevitable. Besides, many pivotal movements and events occurred during the past few decades, one of which was WWII.
Upon reflecting on my archival research experience, I now truly see the importance of archives and how they’re necessary for maintaing an institution’s values and roots. This is especially true when an institution, or in this case culture, is as old and as rich in history as that of Pakistan.
Images Cited:
https://i.vimeocdn.com/portrait/7649734_300x300.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Fondos_archivo.jpg
https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/ww2-pictures/images/african-americans-wwii-001.jpg