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STHC-L: The Science, Technology and Health Care Archives Forum
[Previous Posting] [Next Posting] FW: [saaleaderlist] FW: [saacouncil] NYTimes.com: Preserve the Record, However Odious (1 Letter)
Hello, Colleagues, On January 28 The New York Times published the following letter to the editor from SAA President Elizabeth Adkins regarding Ted Kaczynski (Unabomber) papers. Best regards, Janice Goldblum STHC Co-Chair Preserve the Record, However Odious (1 Letter) Published: January 28, 2007 To the Editor: Re “Unabomber Wages Legal Battle to Halt the Sale of His Papers” (front page, Jan. 22): As the battle over Theodore J. Kaczynski’s papers continues, archivists would argue that his papers should be preserved in some form for historical and criminological purposes. Archivists have a strong interest in ensuring that the government doesn’t suppress or sanitize an individual’s writings for any purpose and in any manner. We hope that most citizens would acknowledge the dangerous precedent that such sanitization and suppression pose. The papers should be preserved in some complete form — as originals or as legible facsimiles — in a reputable repository. To protect the sensibilities of the victims, a time-specific restriction on access may be appropriate. Such preservation is important no matter how heinous the crime documented, whether the Unabomber or the Holocaust. After all, it is far more dangerous to presume to destroy or distort the historical record than to risk preserving the memory of a criminal. Elizabeth W. Adkins President Society of American Archivists Chicago, Jan. 24, 2007 From Please note that Elizabeth Adkins’s letter to the editor about the Ted Kaczynski (Unabomber) papers appeared in today’s edition of the New York Times. Best regards – Nancy ____________________________________________________________ STHC-L - Science, Technology, and Health Care Archives Forum STHC-L@lists.ucla.edu http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sthc-l STHC-L@lists.ucla.edu STHC-L Archives -- Main Index STHC-L Archives -- 2007 Message Index |