Columbia archivist Kimberly Springer hosted David Walker for a discussion on the intersection of the personal and professional spheres in archival work.

On Tuesday, November 18, David Walker discussed both his personal and professional work as an archivist over Zoom with Columbia Rare Book and Manuscript Library Oral History Archive Curator Kimberly Springer. Springer, taking advantage of the online format, began by asking each participant in the chat to introduce themselves and describe the “state of their personal archive,” showcasing the wide range of attendees from university students to other professional archivists across the country. Throughout the presentation, questions submitted in the chat were interspaced in the dialogue, creating an environment where the conversation felt both communal and organic. 

David Walker, the guest speaker for this event, is an archivist at the Easton Foundation, where he works with the archive of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. Earlier this year, he published an article in Metropolitan Archivist titled “Professional meets Personal: Archivist and Their Family Archives.” In the article, he describes his efforts to preserve and digitize his family’s photos, VHS tapes, and scrapbooks. Throughout the process, he starts reflecting on the contrast between the intimate nature of familial history and the technical detachment expected of archival work.

Drawing on community archives and the perspectives of thinkers like Howard Zinn and Ariella Azoulay, Walker questions archival work’s inherent presumption of neutrality and objectivity that divides the personal and professional. Ultimately, he argues that family archives form a realm where emotion, identity, and professional work can interact and shape each other, creating a unique opportunity for archivists to step into a potentially underexplored dimension of the field. 

One of the inspirations for the article Walker discusses, both in the text and in the dialogue, is the TV show Severance, which follows an office worker whose memories are surgically split into two states of consciousness: his work life and his personal life. Walker challenges the notion that to be a better worker, one has to leave oneself behind, connecting it to the two localities of his familial archives—their origins in his Ohio hometown where his family has lived for four generations—and their current home in two boxes in his New York City apartment.

Throughout the discussion, Walker and Springer reflected on a variety of topics surrounding archival work. They considered the evolving role of technology and the effects of social media as a replacement to traditional archival methods and the ethical considerations that go along with it. The conversation also emphasized the importance of considering audience and perspective, particularly when material contained living individuals and having to balance accessibility with respecting the emotional and social implication connected to sharing personal histories. 

Furthermore, they discussed the way archivists assign value to materials and how that plays out at the intersection of personal bias and professional attachment. Walker reflected on the idea of “hoarding”—connecting it to the professional practice of Louise Bourgeois, who famously used scavenged everyday materials in her work—and the difference in audience perception of physical and digital materials. Discussion of ownership, especially in familial histories, continued to highlight the ethical and emotional considerations of archival work, inviting a reconsideration of why some materials are preserved and others aren’t. 

Going into this event, I expected an informative discussion, but I was especially compelled by how far the dialogue went in covering nuances in archival practice I had never thought of. Although I don’t have any background in archival work specifically, I thought that the relaxed and conversational format of the event made the discussion accessible without sacrificing depth in topic. Walker and Springer discussed dimensions of archival work I had yet to consider, challenging my prior assumptions of the field. I always associated archives with the technical side of preservation, so it was very interesting to hear about the unexpected questions of emotion, ethics, and identity that can go alongside it. Hearing Walker reflect on his own family materials caused me to think more critically about my own family history and how it is preserved. Overall, the presentation offered a very compelling snapshot of the complexities of archival practice and encouraged a reconsideration of how personal histories shape, and are shaped by, the preservation of the past. 

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