Call to Action #3: A Seasonal Toast to Archives

#ArchivesQuotes

As we approach the holiday season – replete with wishes of good cheer and year-end toasts, let’s take an opportunity to share the thoughts we all encounter that remind us of the value of archives. 

Why do archives matter?  This month’s challenge is simple:  Think about the “quotable” statements you’ve heard or read—perhaps in a professional presentation, an archives class or workshop, a newspaper, magazine, or journal article, a novel or play.  The statement may have been made by someone with international recognition, a local “everyday” person, one of your professors, or a friend.  Whatever she or he wrote or said, it made you think, “Yes, that’s why archives are important, that’s why what I do matters….”  

Share your quote with us.  We’ll add it to the resources on which we can draw as we move forward in our efforts to raise awareness of and to advocate for archives.  In this season of giving, let’s share with each other some insights about the value of archives.

Examples:

 “…records are crucial to hold us accountable…They are a potent bulwark against human rights violations.”  —Bishop Desmond Tutu

“Without archives many stories of real people would be lost, and along with those stories, vital clues that allow us to reflect and interpret our lives today.” —Sara Sheridan

"Of all our national assets, Archives are the most precious; they are the gift of one generation to another and the extent of our care of them marks the extent of our civilization." —Arthur G. Doughty, Dominion Archivist, 1904-1935

“As archivists appraise records, they are doing nothing less than determining what the future will know about its past: who will have continuing voice and who will be silenced.” —Terry Cook

Share your quotes via Twitter or Facebook using #ArchivesQuotes or submit them via email to saahq@archivists.org.  

Quotes are also being collected on Tumblr: http://archivesquotes.tumblr.com/

Highlights: