Archives Service

“We are trying to build up extensive records which will be of value to a future historian.  It is highly important that the factual material be placed in our files in such a way that there can be no substantial distortion.  We want to keep enlarging on this idea for the sake of the full length history to come.

— Bill Wilson, 1957

• Does your home group have a recorded history? Does it have a leaf on our District 1 Tree?  You can start your Archives service journey by researching (find the tree on the website!) and collaborating with your own home group by collecting your group’s history and submitting to archives for inclusion (contact archives for assistance).  Hey, get a leaf!!!
• Do you have a great brain for trivia? Research and forward any AA trivia Q&A’s to our site (see ______).    We may use it at a travelling presentation or in the Plain and Straight!
• Inquire about our travelling Archives board. Your home group can submit a request to share the message of our own District 15 experience, strength and hope.   

Jack Alexander’s article to the Saturday Evening Post in March of 1941, was widely read and “largely responsible for the surge of interest that established the Society on a national and international basis.”  (AA P-12 pamphlet, pg 5)   

• What was the similar local impetus and who or what was the spark? Did they have a contact list in their cell phone? If not, how did they organize, form and thrive?
• What was the first District 1 group? Can you find these answers in these pages?  

These are all examples of the service opportunities available on the District 1 Archives Committee.  Please join us at our next meeting and see how you too can be part of our journey.

Like any other AA service, the primary purpose of those involved in archival work is to carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous. Archives service work is more than mere custodial activity; it is the means by which we collect, preserve, and share the rich and meaningful heritage of our Fellowship. It is by the collection and sharing of these important historical elements that our collective gratitude for Alcoholics Anonymous is deepened.

A.A. members have a responsibility to gather and care for the Fellowship’s historical documents and memorabilia. Correspondence, records, minutes, reports, photographs, newspaper and magazine articles from the past and the present should be collected, preserved, and made available for the guidance and research of A.A. members and others (researchers, historians, and scholars from various disciplines)—for now and for generations to come.

District 1 Archives Committee draws on multiple sources to guide our service and carry the AA message.  Both the AA Archives General Service Board Directives, Statement of Purpose and Mission Statement, and the Area 15 Archive General Service Committee updates help to drive our best archival practices. 

Our local AA experience, strength and hope is an invaluable element of sharing the AA message.  Maintaining our AA historical collection—from the GSO to District 1 at the local level—requires the dedicated service of many willing AA’s. 

• The archivist (the “collection manager”)
• The historian (the “interviewer”)
• Plain and Straight Liaison (Monthly Archives stories and Trivia Questions)
• Group Liaisons who participate on projects, in monthly meetings and update their home groups
• Chairperson, a trusted servant who chairs regular monthly meetings as well as participates in GSO and other meetings
• Many additional roles and needs for all skill levels. Your District 1 Archives Committee members are AA’s with various skill levels, areas of expertise and interests, with a wide range of lengths of sobriety.  None of us are librarians or history professors!  We are, however, creative, vibrant, collaborative, inquisitive and most of all, happy to be of service as members of AA.    “Whatever you do at your local level, you do for all of AA.”  (GSO Archives Workbook, pg 30)

Just as changing technology changed our everyday lives:  from the daily newspaper to the internet, from telegrams and snail mail to Facebook and Instagram, from records and reel-to-reels to Pandora and Spotify, District 1 Archives has changed and accommodated up-to-date technologies. 

• Hundreds of hard copies have now been digitized or converted to archival discs.
• Rare early “old timer” interviews have been converted to archival disc formats.
• Viewing and sharing our District 1 preserved histories is as easy as hitting a hyperlink! (Although we still do road shows and have a traveling archives board and other cool stuff.) 
• But there’s a lot of work required to get there… and we could use your help

The only requirement for membership in the AA District 1 Archives committee is a desire to be of service.  Archives service opportunities are always available, and all skill levels are welcome. We continue to build and communicate our District 1 legacy:  What were we like before, and how did we get to where we are now? Preserving and sharing our local AA history, built of common experiences over the long term, is another reminder that we are trudging a well-trodden path with those who carried the message before us.  Service opportunities include (but are not limited to the following): 

Composition-Committee Standing positions-responsibilities

Chair-Also serves as Treasurer

·        2 years continuous sobriety-can be waived by committee

·        2-year term

·        Leads monthly committee meetings

·        Represents archives committee at various events and functions

·        Presents reports at district and area meetings

·        Prepares annual budget for archives committee meetings

Alternate chair

·        Requirements same as chair. Fills in for chair as necessary.

·        Moves to chair position after term

·        2-year term but could be less depending on when chair rotates out

Archivist

·        Responsible for archives collection

·        Maintains the physical integrity of the collection and maintains the index, inventory and a practical means of searching the collection.

·        5 years continuous sobriety-can be waived by committee

·        Term-indefinite -non-rotating

Alternate archivist

·        Same as archivist

·        Assists archivist

Biographer

·        Records interviews with old-timers in the district

·        Makes sure the interview waiver form is signed

·        Submits interviews to the archivist

Plain and Straight Liaison

·        Submits monthly articles about AA history to the Plain & Straight

·        Updates Archives trivia questions in the Plain & Straight

Secretary

·        2 years sobriety requirement-can be waived by committee

·        Maintains a roster (name, email, & phone number) of active committee members and those attending meetings

·        Emails monthly meeting minutes to members in a timely manner and emails reminder to members 4-5 days prior to next meeting

Webmaster

·        Makes updates to website as needed after receiving authorization from the district & committee

·        Comes up with ideas for new posts and arrangements on the website

Scope

District 1 Archives acquisition priorities include, but are not limited to:

·        Group histories.

·        When and Where.

·        Local event flyers: conventions, picnics, anniversary or special meetings, new meetings, etc.

·        Relevant correspondence.

·        Written or recorded histories of long-time members.

·        District 1 General Service Business meeting minutes (forwarded every 2 years by District Secretary-start over each new panel).

·        Display items including:

o   Books.

o   Pamphlets.

o   Newspapers articles.

o   Photographs.

o   Group Family Tree

o   Other appropriate artifacts.

Our goals and responsibilities are to not only preserve but to share this collection with the district and at times other districts.

Procedure

The committee holds meetings every 3^rd Saturday of each month at 10am. The secretary reads last month’s minutes. Committee standing members read their reports. Chairperson reports and discusses accepted motion(s) submitted by District 1 business meetings, any new business pertaining Area 15 agendas, website adding materials, and new display, events to prepare for. Anyone is welcome to attend archives committee meetings.

When the Archives Committee receives an invitation to do a display, it must be approved by the Committee in advance. The Archives Committee does not pay admission/registration fees to attend a function or order to do a display. However, if individual members are planning to attend and are willing to accept responsibility for the materials, an invitation may be accepted.

Pertaining to all displays: The material must not be left unattended. The room must be locked anytime no attendant is present. This is particularly important for large and multiple-day events, such as conventions. Adequate supervision (people to monitor things) must be arranged in advance.

District 1 Group Family Tree: For a group to be represented by a leaf on the Group Family Tree, a Group Form must be file with Archives Committee. Forms may be obtained online from the Archives website or from an Archives Committee member.

Requirement for storing Archives Collection:

·        Climate controlled 24/7.

·        Pest controlled.

·        Secure.

·        Reasonable accessible.

Acceptance of Donated Materials: Following are the guidelines for accepting a donation.

·        Any donation accepted commits the Committee to the task of organizing and preserving it, which involves handwork and archival material costs.

·        Any prospective donation that would require expensive conservation, special housing, intensive processing, or other extensive demand on Archives resources may not be accepted.

·        If a monetary appraisal is desired by a donor, it is recommended that is be done by a disinterested third party before title of the material is transferred to District 1 Archives.

·        District 1 Archives does not purchase archival records, books, or artifacts.

·        District 1 Archives generally does not accept items on loan.

Retention & Deaccession: District 1 Archives reserves the right to reevaluate historical material and to carefully and judiciously deaccession and dispose of certain items from its collection consistent with professionally accepted standards. An item may be deaccessioned if any of the following conditions exits:

·        In most cases, a maximum of three copies of any item will be retained.

·        The item is not relevant to Alcoholic Anonymous or to the district 1 mission and scope.

·        The item has deteriorated beyond usefulness.

·        District 1 Archives is unable to continue to provide care and storage for the object.

·        The item may be replaced with a similar object of greater significance, quality, and/or in better condition.

·        The item is subject to legal and ethical standards requiring its removal. Complete records will be maintained on all deaccessioned items and their subsequent disposition.

Disposal of Deaccessioned Items: Deaccessioned items may be disposed of by one of the following methods, in decreasing order of desirability:

·        Return to original donor

·        Transfer to another Alcoholic Anonymous repository: offer to another District Archives in Area 15.

·        Donation to an appropriate non-A.A. archive or scholarly institution.

·        Destruction of the item