What Leith Did this Summer

This week's?Musings from Main?comes from Friends' Archivist, Leith Johnson!

The Society of America Archivists

Since 2002, I have given a presentation titled “Archives in the Movies” at the Society of American Archivists annual meeting held each summer. Last August 26, for the first time in two years because of Covid, I presented it in Boston.

"Archives in the Movies"

“Archives in the Movies” is a one-hour compendium of motion picture scenes that depict archives, special collections, manuscripts, public records, the institutions that administer them, and the people who work there. (There are also lots of good scenes from broadcast, cable, and streaming shows, but I limit the focus to movies you could’ve seen in a theater.) Prior to the show, I revise the show somewhat with the substitution of new clips, but it pretty much consists of the greatest hits I’ve assembled over the years.

Over 200 conference attendees laugh, groan, or gasp as they watch clips from more than two dozen movies, plus a grand finale of 25 more. Between the clips, I provide brief commentary to provide context and occasionally include some admittedly dopey wisecracks.

It may be surprising to know that there’s a wide range of movies that have scenes involving archives or archivists. Here are just a few examples:

Citizen Kane

In the classic Citizen Kane, a stern curator helps a researcher in a private manuscript repository.

National Treasure

In National Treasure, a treasure hunter needs to see the back of the Declaration of Independence

Angels & Demons

In Angels & Demons, a professor and a scientist examine a priceless, one-of-a-kind, 500-year-old Galileo book in the Vatican Archives.

Waiting for Guffman

In Waiting for Guffman, the town historian explains the founding of the town on the occasion of its sesquicentennial.

The Impossible Voyage

The earliest clip is from the 1904 French film, The Impossible Voyage.
One of the gentlemen in the foreground is an archivist.

I have two primary observations about archives scenes in the movies. One, archives are consistently shown to contain valuable information and, two, archivists are depicted as knowledgeable and forthcoming about their areas of expertise. If it weren’t for what’s learned in the archives, in almost every case, the plot would come to dead end and the movie would be over.