PDXme

This spring term in my Honors College history class, I was assigned to write a ten to fifteen page research paper on a topic of my choice. Being the Portlandphile (or PDXphile, if you please) that I am, I took to researching Forest Park, a large, forested park no less, not ten minutes from the city center. Over Memorial Day weekend I took a trip up north to jump start my research. The process to secure the park's current size of over 5,000 acres, which began in 1947, was a treat to investigate. Much like the growth of a now cherished and developed Forest Park, the place of my research, Portland's City Archives, its records dating back to the beginnings of Portland, is a wonder in itself to behold.

The archives are located in Chimney Park in North Portland, in a building once designated as the center for waste collection of a former city dump. During my two visits to the archives, Diana Banning, the City Archivist, helped me work through numerous boxes and files for the primary sources I sought. To my surprise, Diana, a humble public servant, expressed her amazement, "normally, people your age don't know about the archives." "Really?" I enquired. The wealth of information pared with the diligence of Diana and her colleagues as the keepers of the City's history, impelled me to give them their due recognition. I got into contact with Diana again in an attempt to let people know more about one of Portland's lesser-known treasures.

PDXme: What is the Portland City Archives?

The Portland City Charter assigns the City Auditor responsibility over City records and so the Archives and Records Management division resides in the office of the City Auditor. The City of Portland Archives and Records Center is managed by Archives and Records Management and is the official repository for the City’s historical records.In addition to housing and managing the archives, we also provide off-site records storage for City bureaus.

While we provide many services to City bureaus and their employees, those that are available to the public are probably of most interest here! As a public archives, our collections are available for use by the public for free. I feel that this is one of the most important services we can offer citizens: free and open access to the documentation of the City at work.

Our collections are focused on records created by or for City agencies; our earliest official records begin in 1851, with the first City Council meeting. We have records detailing the activities of all bureaus, including those that are no longer active like the Motion Picture Censor Board and the Milk Inspector. Essentially, if you wonder what the archives contains, think about what services the City provides and you’ll have a sense of our subject matter: transportation, water, sewer, solid waste, recycling, police and fire protection, parks, planning, development, and neighborhood collaboration are only a few out a much longer list.

While most of our collections consist of correspondence, reports, studies, and project files, we also have photographs, maps, and plans. We don’t have an exact count, but I estimate that we have nearly 750,000 photographs in our collections and they document City officials, activities, and projects. Even though a large portion of our images were taken to provide evidence of public works projects, they also document the neighborhoods where the projects took place and capture how life in Portland has changed throughout the decades.

Although our collections are primarily bureaucratic by their very nature, they also document social history. Local governments are involved in so many aspects of our everyday lives that the official records can’t help but document society.

PDXme: What is your job? Can you describe an average day?

As the City Archivist, I’m convinced I have the best job in the City! Really, how cool is it to work with old records, photos, maps and plans? Add to that, I also get to help people find information they need. I’m the first to say that I’m not the City’s historian – there are other more qualified people out there doing excellent work interpreting the city’s history; rather, my job is to collect, protect and provide access to the documentation of the City of Portland.

One thing that people don’t realize is that archival records are being created as we speak – just because a record is new doesn’t mean it lacks historical significance! As such, I work closely with my colleagues, Tim Hunt and Brian Brown, on contemporary records issues. Now that more than 90% of our records are created in the electronic realm, archivists and records managers are presented with great challenges when it comes to preserving the public record.

As for an average day, I’m not sure there is one. I spend approximately 20-30% of my time working with researchers and answering reference questions. I also have the administrative duties that come with managing a facility and staff. I also work with bureaus on records management and archives issues, spend time on outreach activities and other professional duties.

PDXme: How did you become interested in archiving? What do you enjoy about your profession?

While I’d like to say that I wanted to be an archivist when I grew up, I can’t. In fact, I didn’t even really know what an archives was prior to my first job in one. When I was accepted into library school, I wanted to find a job working in a library. Listed on the job board was a post for a student processor at the King County Archives in Seattle. I never looked back. I’ve spent my career working for local government archives and records management programs and continue to love it.

I think what invigorates me and makes me very proud to be an archivist is that I feel like I’m helping connect people to their past. Connection to the past is much more than researching your family tree (although I believe genealogy is the nation’s second-most popular hobby); rather, it’s linking who we are to who we were as individuals, neighbors, communities, regions, and nations. There is a statue at the National Archivesthat contains a quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest:  “What is past is prologue” and it well-defines the role of archives in society. Add to that, as a public archivist I absolutely believe in the role that archives play in government’s responsibility to citizens for an open and democratic process. After all, without the evidence of the government’s actions or documentation of a society, there is no accountability. It’s no coincidence that archives are often an early victim of a regime change.

PDXme: What kinds of people do you provide services to?

We provide services to everybody; archives are not just for scholars! Our researchers come from as close as down the street and as far away as Japan. We work with attorneys, students, neighborhood activists, businesses, government employees, and genealogists – to name a few. It’s difficult to fully classify all of the people who use our records. Serious scholars working on dissertations and publications can be researching next to a person doesn’t really see themselves as doing research. Rather, they have a need to find out something that pertains to them on a personal level. My favorite example of this is an elderly man who came to the archives many years ago looking for a list of approved street trees. It turns out that his sidewalk was damaged by tree roots and he was trying to prove that the tree he’d planted many years ago was recommended by the City as a tree that wouldn’t disrupt the sidewalk. We found a pamphlet for him and he happily took a copy away with him to help him prove his case. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out if he was successful, but I think he personifies my assertion that archives are important to everyone.

PDXme: The City of Portland has been working with Portland State University to move the Portland Archives into its new Student Recreation Center. Why is this happening, and what are some changes we can expect with this move?

The Archives and Records Center has been experiencing space shortages for years and we’d done as much as we could do to stay in the building as long as we could. The timing for the new PSU building was perfect and the City purchased space from PSU in a condo agreement so we could move the City’s Archives and Records Center. The new building will provide us room to grow (local, state and federal laws dictate how long we need to maintain records), and more importantly, we’ll be much more accessible. Our current location is 11 miles from City Hall and access via public transportation is spotty.  The new location sites us between the streetcar, the MAX and buses.

We anticipate that we’ll begin moving the collections sometime in January 2010 and that we’ll be closed to researchers for 6-8 weeks once the move commences. Moving nearly 30,000 boxes, thousands of maps and plans, hundreds of ledgers and a variety of other materials – all needing to be precisely tracked and relocated – means that we’re planning for a complicated and finely orchestrated move.

However, once we are moved into the new facility, our researchers are going to love it! The reading room will have a lovely view, lockers to place their belongings, and nice tables and chairs from which to do their research. We’re also planning for a wireless connection so people can search our online catalog,Efiles and other resources they might need. While the hours are not yet set in stone, we plan to offer some extended and drop-in hours to compliment our current by-appointment research times.

This is an exciting move that will bring City information resources closer to the community; after all, a core tenet of archives is access and soon we’ll be so much more accessible.

PDXme: If one wanted to visit the archives, what would you suggest that he or she do?

At this time, making a research appointment is all that is needed to begin the process of accessing the City’s archives. Currently, we are open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, by appointment only.  One may make an appointment by calling 503-823-4631 or emailing. After our move, please check our website for updated hours and contact information.

PDXme: Anything else you'd like to tell us about the Archives?

I’d like to make a plug for our Annual Open House, which is scheduled this year for October 2^nd, 1-4 p.m. This is the public’s chance to get a “behind the scenes” tour and enjoy a root beer float as our thank you for stopping by. This year marks our 10^th open house and our 30^th anniversary at the Stanley Parr Archives and Records Center (SPARC). The celebration will take a fond look back on our time at SPARC, as well as forward to our exciting new location.