A scan of that entry is attached here as a record of the NAA, which was established in 1973 when the government began a rehabilitation and reconstruction program for Kabul’s historical buildings.
The NAA preserves valuable manuscripts, old books, newspapers, journals, calendars, declarations, seals, stamps, decrees, important historical official documents, deeds, treaties, public subscriptions, public letters of complaint, family trees, historical drawings and photos, calligraphy, paintings and miniatures, handwritten books and other unique and old item.
Interior of the National Archives of Afghanistan
The oldest manuscript in the archives is attributed to Osman and Ali (the third and fourth caliphs of Islam, Imam Hassan, and Imam Hossian, written in Kufic script on deerskins, and illluminated with letters of gold dating back to the second and third centuries.
Many thanks to the assistance provided by Masuma Nazari, chief of the National Archives of Afghanistan.
My best wishes to the people of Afghanistan during this turbulent time in our shared history.
In this video, MARA alumna Heather Kahn discusses her work as project coordinator on the International Directory of National Archives. Heather assisted Dr. Pat Franks while enrolled in the Master of Archives and Records Administration program at San Jose State University. She graduated in 2017 and now works for the Nevada State Library Archives and Records.
Back in April I wrote about my experience attempting
to track down my family lineage in present day Czechia. Through communication with the National
Archives of the Czech Republic and the regional archives in Trebon, I was able
to establish my family was rooted in that region. The regional archives took on the task of
determining just how far down those roots went.
Drum
Roll Please
I now have a genealogical profile for the male line of
the Verhota (Vrhota) family all the way back to 1604, when Jakob Cinatl took
over the family farm from his father Petr.
I am not part of a lost line of Bohemian royals, I come from a long line
of laborers and farmers.
It has been fascinating to read through the profile, bringing up questions about my family’s progress through history. For instance, most of the records linking the generations of my family were located in the Roman Catholic Church of Trebon’s records. When did my family stop being Catholic? In the profile, under Religion, the legitimacy of a person’s birth was recorded (parents were married at the time of birth). The man who started this hunt, John Verhota (aka Jan Vrchota, my great, great, great grandfather) is the only person considered legitimate in the eyes of the church. What was my family up to, wink wink?
Statni Oblastni Archiv v Treboni
The Regional Archives of Trebon provided so many interesting and valuable details for each generation of my family: date of birth, baptism, marriage and death; who their godparents were; their occupation; place of burial and sometimes a person’s cause of death. For example, Anna Vrchotova, my 5th great grandmother, died of breathlessness—what the heck is breathlessness?
Anna Vrchotaova’s death records from Roman Catholic Church in Třeboň, volume 47, for years 1826–1866, page 63. Links to available documents were provided by the Archives, along with a translation of the content.
Their
Place in History
This process has also widened my thoughts on
history. My ancestors lived during some
interesting times. My ancestors were
subjects in the kingdom of Bohemia.
Jakob Cinatl was coming of age towards the end of the Thirty Year’s War.
Eventually this religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants resulted
in the Battle of the White Mountain, ending the Bohemian reign and ushering in
the Habsburg dynasty, absorbing Bohemia into the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Image Courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica
The Bohemian people fought for centuries against their
new rulers. When John Verhota was a
teenager, a push to create a new Austria-Hungary-Bohemia monarchy failed and by
the end of World War I, Bohemia faded into history becoming part of the newly
established First Czechoslovak Republic.
This whole experience has taught me so much about my
personal and our global history. As you
can imagine, I have now added a trip to Trebon to my bucket list. I plan to visit St. Elizabeth’s Church
(Kostel Svate Alzbeta) to see where my family was buried; the church is still
there west of the town center. Also, I
am slowly learning the Czech language. I
encourage anyone interested in the family genealogy to use the national
archives system. The results may surprise you.
By Dr. Patricia C. Franks, Professor & MARA Coordinator, iSchool, SJSU
The ICA Yaounde Conference held in Cameroon in November 2018 was a tremendous success for participants, presenters, and the archival community at large. Here are some reasons why:
Cameroon enjoys high-level support for their National Archives and for the ICA Conference
Figure 1: In attendance, along with David Fricker, President of ICA(#1), were Dr Esther Olembe, Director of theNational Archives of Cameroon (#2); Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, Minister of Artsand Culture of Cameroon (#3); and Philemon Yang, Prime Minister of Cameroon(#4).
The official opening of ICA Yaoundé 2018 was conducted by, Philémon Yunji Yang, the Prime Minister, Head of the Government of Cameroon (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Philémon Yunji Yang, Prime Minister, Head of the Government of Cameroon. Hear his message on Twitter
Greetings were also extended by the Minister of Arts and Culture and Chairman of the Board of the National Archives of Cameroon, Professor Narcisee Mouellé Kombi. From him we learned the government has implemented an ambitious plan to save the national archives of Cameroon currently lodged at the National Museum in Yaoundé and also in Buea (see figure 3).
Figure 3: National Museum of Cameroon, site of the Tuesday evening reception.
The plan consists of rehabilitating buildings, improving security, and digitizing all archives. To this effort, the government has made available three billion Central African Francs (CFAs).
Education and Training at the Forefront
Educational sessions were held throughout the conference. On Monday, November 26, I had the opportunity to share some of the information gathered when developing the International Directory of National Archives. The presentation titled A Snapshot in Time: The Archives of 54 African Nations covered archival mission and vision, legal foundations, examples of treasured artifacts, physical access, digital infrastructure, events impacting holdings, and outreach through websites and social media (figure 4).
Figure 4: Opening slide for presentation, “A Snapshot in Time.”
A pdf of the slides can be downloaded here. If anyone would like the actual slide deck,they should contact me via email.
One of the tweets shared during this session (figure 5) emphasized the need for assistance from ICA for the National Archives of Cameroon and other African National Archives to gather, preserve and make available their current and historical records.
Figure 5: Captured Tweet during the November 26 presentation. See this Tweet and more at https://twitter.com/icarchiv
In keeping with the goal of preserving not only physical but also digital records, Digital Records Training was provided for African Archivists for two days immediately following the educational sessions.
Opportunities to Learn and Network
During the conference, archives staff displayed and described some of their most precious holdings (figure 6).
Figure 6: National Archives staff members display archival materials.
Members of singing and dancing groups (figures 7 and 8) provided a glimpse into Cameroon’s cultural heritage.
Figure 7: Cameroon singing group performed during the conference. Figure 8: Cameroon dancing group performed outside the Palais Des Congres, conference site.
As usual, conferences provide the opportunity to meet with colleagues we haven’t seen in a while. It was an unexpected pleasure to catch up with Jian (Jenny) Wang of Renmin University (figure 7). Jenny enlisted a student, Wenran Fan, in the School of Information Resource Management to collaborate on the IDNA entry for the State Archives Administration of the People’s Republic of China.
Figure 9: Pat and Jenny Wang, Renmin University, Beijing, China.
Parting Thoughts
Although this was my first visit to Africa and my first ICA conference, it definitely won’t be the last! Congratulations to ICA and the host city and country of Yaoundé, Cameroon, for providing an educational, enlightening, and thoroughly engaging conference. Well done everyone!
This article by John Sheridan, Digital Director of The National Archives (TNA) of the UK, provides three reasons why established archives (and therefore archivists) are in the best position to develop new capabilities to preserve digital records:
Trust: National Archives are already trusted based on their proven commitment to preserving records that document the nation’s history and making them accessible to the public.
Longevity: National Archives are long-established institutions with a proven track record that ensure the likelihood for the continued maintenance, preservation, and accessibility of archival holdings is very high.
Capacity for Change: As Sheridan states, “change is nothing new for archives.” The core purpose and commitment to preserving the public record requires continual change in order to respond to emerging technology and societal expectations.
International Directory of National Archives 