Archivist in a Backpack

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The new Archivist in a Backpack project equips community partners with tools to start material and oral history archives!

Much of our understanding of the past is based on archives, and who assembles those records, and decides what’s worthy of protection. A new project at the Manitowoc County Historical Society is making archive creation more accessible by offering resources that can easily launch community partners on memory projects. Called Archivist in a Backpack, it supplies compact kits with basic tools for oral history and material archives.

The Archivist in a Backpack kit is specifically for oral history interviews. While it has the expected audio recorder and tripod, it further assists DIY historians through interview question cards and a training guide, as well as thank you cards to send participants. 

How to use the kit? Archivist in a Backpack kits can be reserved by contacting the Manitowoc County Historical Society at (920) 684-4445 or emailing Archives@ManitowocCountyHistory.org. Kits are available in 2 week, 4 week, or 6 week timeslots. Once completed, the oral history will be returned to the Manitowoc County Historical Society and made available on a server. A copy will also be stored, and transcribed, for the Historical Society archives.

What’s new? The goal is to expand the Archivist in a Backpack program for archival preservation and digitization, whether photographs, letters, or diaries. A flatbed scanner, thumb drive for files, acid-free sleeves and folders, and cotton gloves for handling fragile photographs, would be joined by user-friendly technical tips. Donations are needed to make this additional resource possible.

Thank You! The Archivist in a Backpack is made possible by the City of Manitowoc and donors to the Manitowoc County Historical Society’s Collection and Archives Fund.

The “Archivist in a Backpack” program is modeled after a project of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Southern Historical Collection, funded through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.