Revolution in the Archives

This course will immerse students in archival research and explore the history and nature of archives themselves. Working with original revolutionary-era materials in Firestone, students will contribute to an upcoming exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. Along the way, we will investigate what archives are, how they are created and evolve, and how they shape historical scholarship. Whose voices do archives preserve or exclude? How do historians navigate them and grapple with their limits? And how are they being transformed in the present? Weekly in-class workshops will focus on 18th-c. manuscripts and rare books.