Question of the Week: What’s your favorite archive?
Have you ever visited or done research at the National Archives or Library of Congress? What about other archives? Which is your favorite archive to visit?
Have you ever visited or done research at the National Archives or Library of Congress? What about other archives? Which is your favorite archive to visit?
The William L Clement Library @ The University of Michigan
I appreciate Internet Archive. I’ve found a number of out of print books there that I would not have known about otherwise. But Chronicling America is probably my first pick.
I have never had the opportunity to travel to the National Archives. The Official Records are actually carefully edited summaries, so although I’ve never been, the National Archives would be my number one choice.
The word is “archives”, with an “s” at the end.
My personal library with hundreds of volumes
I was an archivist at the National Archives for 11 years and have done research there many times since. Over the years, I have done research at the Library of Congress in the Main Reading Room, the Manuscript Division, the Audovisual Room and the Map collections. I have also done research in various other archives and manuscript collections around the world. If I must pick a favorite, I would choose the National Archives!
I need to be educated on how to properly research any and all archives.
The Maine State Archives in Augusta, Maine
i have two … The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum … and The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon.
The Massachusetts Historical Society, in Boston. Not only a treasure trove of documents, but houses very interesting artifacts. They did useful workshops for teachers. In one workshop, I saw Governor Andrew’s pistol, an enormous black revolver, then John Brown’s pistol, a small pocket revolver. The curator brought out a slave collar, the iconic prongs and all, recovered by Massachusetts troops in New Orleans. He offered to let us handle it. I pushed forward, eager to touch infamy. It was cold, rough. Heavier than you think it would be. The soldiers cut it off a teen aged girl, as I recall.