Articles

Historical Development of Archival Theory and Practices in the United States

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Abstract

Two distinct archival traditions have developed in the United States, affecting practices in manuscript repositories and public and institutional archives in myriad ways. One is the Historical Manuscripts Tradition, which dominated both collecting practices and intellectual controls from the 18th century until about 1960. The other is the Public Archives Tradition, which gained ascendancy in the 1960s as the nature of collecting changed from a concentration on papers of remote vintage to those of the 20th century.

How to Cite:

Berner, R. C., (1982) “Historical Development of Archival Theory and Practices in the United States”, Archival Issues 7(2), 103–117. doi: https://doi.org//archivalissues.8182