Project proposal

Preserving History in the Computer Age

Anna Isaacs

It’s the 75^th anniversary of the National Archives, and the theme of their latest exhibition is “big”— presenting original documents and records in their full-scale glory in an age where we somehow like seeing things on the smallest screen possible—iPods, BlackBerrys, etc. But this isn’t the only exhibit available: the Archives is home to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, as well as the minutiae of our history: telegrams from Abraham Lincoln, letters from George Washington, declassified WWII secrets—even UFO reports. It’s an all-encompassing collection lets us tap back into our roots, even in this modern day of constant change and transformation.

Marvin Pinkert, Director of the National Archives Experience, has given tours to everyone from Alex Trebek to Josh Groban. He knows everything there is to know about the artifacts in the Archives. For my final project, I’d like to do an audio slideshow of everything that goes into a tour—stories behind the items displayed, reactions of an audience, and of course, the artifacts themselves. I’d also like to dig a little with him into why paper records matter in the computer age; I think as much of the narration as possible should be him speaking about the records and why he does what he does.

I think using photography and audio gives a museum-like feel to the piece—something important to accomplish in making it feel a little less modern and a little more timeless, especially considering the theme of the anniversary exhibition. It’s a slow-paced, accessible medium that I think will give a good idea of the feel of the exhibition.

I think it will take just a day to compile all the photos and audio needed—after all, a museum trip is typically a day trip anyway, and I want this to feel as much as possible like a trip to the museum. Editing will obviously be a much longer process. I think students would take an interest because the theme of the exhibition is particularly targeted at the modern American, swept up in technology, reading email and the news in the palms of our hands.