One of our largest artifacts is mathematician Stan Ulam’s desk, to which he added this comment—’A mathematician does something on a piece of paper, & then lo & behold a big explosion may occur.’ The desk is on display in the Hans Bethe House. Photo by Minesh Bacrania for the Los Alamos Historical Society
By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society
On Oct. 1 the County Council declared Archive Month in Los Alamos with a proclamation that began “Whereas: Much of our community’s rich and diverse history can be found in records created by and for the people.”
I suspect that quite a number of people in our community are aware of the Los Alamos Historical Society Archives and Collections, but what is necessary to create and maintain the wonderful archive we are fortunate to have?
A good archive must be temperature and humidity-controlled, with artifacts stored in acid-free containers according to archival standards by knowledgeable people who love their work. Without that environment and care, irreplaceable artifacts wouldn’t be available for current or future generations. Who are the people who come to admire and learn from the contents of an archive? They range from our youngest citizens, elementary school-age students who have toured the archive during educational programs to PhD researchers who come great distances to work within our wide variety of history.
In addition to maintaining the proper temperature and having Goldilocks air conditioning (not too dry and not too wet!), our archive has an amazing range of artifacts. They include photographs, documents and manuscripts, cultural artifacts, archaeological specimens, fine art, textiles, Native American ceramics and artwork, audio-visual materials, oral histories, scrapbooks, periodicals, books, maps, and general information files. And I probably left something out!
More specifically, our archive contains approximately 40,000 documents and 10,000 artifacts, photos, videos, and more—saddles, typewriters, handwritten letters (some of them censored!), diaries, Los Alamos Ranch School diplomas, a Mesa Club cookbook, pins, patches, articles of clothing (uniforms, high school sweaters, jackets), WAC orders for travel to an unknown place in New Mexico, pottery, a head dress and moccasins made by Atilano Montoya of Otowi Bridge fame, and on and on. Incredible pieces of history.
Seeing these pieces of history is so much better than just reading about it! Artifacts make our history come alive. I could tell a Los Alamos High School student of today that I saw the President of the United States give a speech here in 1963, but if that student can see a photograph of President Kennedy and realize he delivered that speech at our football field, that historical event has more meaning. Every artifact has a story to tell. And we have thousands of them!
We are fortunate to have archivist Rebecca Collinsworth, curator Don Cavness, and registrar Stephanie Yeamans, but they would be hard put to accomplish all of the necessary work in the archive without a corps of volunteers taking on projects according to their knowledge base. For example, Christine Hipp transcribes oral history interviews. John Ramsay has a wide knowledge of maps and helps with that collection, many of which were donated by him. Cherie Trottier works with the storage needs for textiles, ethnological collections, and archaeological artifacts.
Margie Bruell is digitizing the research library, having transferred or entered 1,740 titles so far, and Ann Greene works with the obituary files and the library collection, making searches for names or titles much easier. Our summer intern, Emily Holmes, is currently volunteering time in the archive.
The Los Alamos Historical Society Archives and Collections are a rare treasure for a town of 18,000 residents, but then, Los Alamos isn’t just any small town. It is a place of incredible history that ranges from Ancestral Pueblo times to a scientific influence that has changed the world. The responsibility to preserve that much history is huge, but Los Alamos is fortunate to have an archive staff that possesses the dedication and skills to do the job!
The County Council’s proclamation ended with “Therefore, on behalf of the Council of the incorporated County of Los Alamos, I do hereby proclaim the Month of October as “ARCHIVES MONTH” in Los Alamos County and encourage our citizens to learn more about this excellent resource.”
It is my hope that this article has taken our residents on a first step in that direction.
The Southwest classic The House at Otowi Bridge by Peggy Pond Church was written on this typewriter, now on display in the Museum Shop. Courtesy/Los Alamos Historical Society Archives and Collections
The doorway and gate to Dorothy McKibbin’s 109 East Palace office is on display in the Manhattan Project room of the History Museum. Courtesy/Los Alamos Historical Society Archives and Collections
