Archives Dept. celebrates 38th birthday
Archives: the name alone connotes stacks of dusty yellowed documents that crumble at the touch. But just as technology has moved from clay tables to DVD’s, the nature of our archives has similarly evolved. Today, as Belize’s Archives Department celebrated its thirty-eighth anniversary, Patrick Jones discovered that the information housed in its Belmopan headquarters is both interesting and surprisingly accessible.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
This is perhaps the largest collection of public records and other historical documents brought together under one Belizean roof. The gatekeeper of this treasure throve, and indeed the nation’s collective memory, is Chief Archivist Charles Gibson.
Charles Gibson, Chief Archivist
“What we have here is a rich collection of historical records on Belize. The earliest record we have dates back from 1750 and the most current record of course is about five years old. It’s a wealth of information on the country of Belize. We have newspapers, manuscripts, books, photographs, a unique stamp collection, and quite recently in 1998 we acquired a sizeable audio/visual collection from the B.C.B. and the Belize Information Service when it was closed down.”
And in celebration of its thirty-eighth anniversary, the Archives Department is this week inviting citizens, especially schoolchildren, to come take a peep into the past with a view to enriching the future.
Patrick Jones
“Although the institution can trace its roots back to 1965 and the Jubilee Library in the old Bliss Institute, present day administrators, including chairman of the Archives Advisory Board Inez Sanchez, recognize 1982 as the real start of the Archives Department.”
Inez Sanchez, Chairman, Belize Archives Advisory Board
“This is my opinion because remember I said that before this the archive was just a collection of material. There was no order; you couldn’t access it, though it was there. But now when Mr. Charles took over then the began to set it in some order and in some way that you come here and you say I would like something on the Mosquito Coast, they know where it is. But in the old days if you say you want something on the Mosquito Coast you have to wade through the whole thing before you can get it.”
Those days have thankfully been relegated to the dustbin of time. Gibson and his staff of over thirty have streamlined the collection and preservation of historical documents for future generations of Belizeans to research and enjoy. Head of the Preservation Unit William Jones says from the moment a document lands at the department, a vigorous process–starting with a special powder–is put in motion.
William Jones, Manager, Preservation Unit
“What this does is to clean the document so that you could take off all the dirt, the grease before we could put it in the washing. And this is the process in a circular motion all over the paper, back and front, and after you finish those, then we come to the washing. Here we have Mr. Guzman washing, de-acidifying the document. This is to take out the acid out of the paper and it’s done with magnesium bicarbonate, so he’s just washing the paper and leaves it in there for about twenty minutes and then removes it.”
The finished product is dried off, and the document is then ready for public perusal. Sanchez, who is serving his third term as chairman of the board, says the department has come a long way from the pioneering days of Leo Bradley and Tessa Fairweather.
Inez Sanchez
“It was just a little room, and it really began with–if you remember Governor Burdon send to Wright I think three or four volumes called the Archives of Belize. I think we still have it here, three or four volumes. And that’s what we started with. And then afterwards the famous brief sketch of British Honduras, I don’t think you have heard about that one, that’s another one. Slowly we began to add, as books on Belize they started to add to it, but this room was special. It’s just a little room called the national collection. Very small, very modest, but it was there.”
But with many different agencies all with stated goal of preserving things for future reference, we asked Gibson if this perceived duplication of effort is a waste of precious resources.
Charles Gibson
“Well we mainly focus on historical information. The library I think is more focusing on some of the more current collections. But after all, what is current today is the history of tomorrow. So it’s a thin line and the question is how do you make that division. But no, I don’t think we are duplicating our work. In fact, recently we have been meeting with the library and what we are trying to do is to have more cooperation. But its not only library, we have the museums, we have the Archaeology Department, we have several agencies that are collecting historical and cultural information. And to my view, what we are tying to do is whatever we collect we make available to the public and more so we try to share it with the other agencies that are collecting historical information.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Board Chairman Sanchez says the department is now looking to construct its own customized building as the present structure on Unity Boulevard has outlived its usefulness. Gibson says the Belmopan City Council has already allocated land for the building and plans for fundraising are now being finalized.
