Nota Bene: If You 'Discover' Something in an Archive, It's Not a Discovery

[PeterK]

When I'm doing archival research and I find an important letter or pamphlet, slipped prosaically into an acid-free file folder among other, less interesting items, I feel like I've discovered a new world. But those documents made it to the archives because a professional made an appraisal choice to acquire, preserve and provide access to them. A 19th-century professional knew about the Leale report and decided that, as a part of the Surgeon General's correspondence, it was worth keeping in the nation's collections.

http://theatln.tc/28VxUiB
http://theatln.tc/28VxUiB+

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Peterk
Dallas, Tx
pakur...@gmail.com
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