Articles

"Just a Bunch of Bigots" A Case Study in the Acquisition of Controversial Material

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Abstract

This article is a case study documenting the acquisition of Ku Klux Klan membership records by the Clarke Historical Library and the reaction to the acquisition. After chronicling the facts of the case, the author discusses what the case reveals about contemporary inter institutional cooperation, the reaction of the general public to controversial archival acquisitions, and the reaction of students, faculty, and university administrators to such acquisitions. The author discusses at some length the impact of multiculturalism upon the debate regarding the acquisition of controversial material and suggests that although multiculturalism can be used to question the legitimacy of placing controversial material in an archives, multiculturalism also contains within it the seeds for a powerful argument in favor of retaining controversial records.

How to Cite:

Boles, F., (1994) “"Just a Bunch of Bigots" A Case Study in the Acquisition of Controversial Material”, Archival Issues 19(1), 53–65. doi: https://doi.org//archivalissues.10632