ARTchivist's Notebook: The role of corporate archives in truth and reconciliation
The role of corporate archives in truth and reconciliation
In listening to the podcast episode "How Companies Reckon with Past Wrongdoing" from HBR Ideacast, I learned about a role in corporate archives I hadn't thought of before: truth and reconciliation researcher.
The podcast, and its accompanying article, "How Companies Can Address Their Historical Transgressions," delves into problematic company histories and how present-day corporate leaders are responding to them (or not). (The podcast is free, but you may need a subscription to read the article.)
University of Baltimore professor Sarah Federman talks about her research into the World War II history of the French National Railways (SNCF), a company traditionally celebrated because railway workers sabotaged trains on D-Day in solidarity with the Resistance. However, another side of that history didn't come to light until the 1990s when it was revealed that the company had also transported tens of thousands of Jews to the German border, where they were sent on to Auschwitz.
(Personal WWII files in the ICRC archives at Satigny, Switzerland. Credit: RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
As part of the process of learning, understanding, and reckoning with their responsibility in this atrocity, SNCF "hired a historian to sort through the company’s wartime archives and make the findings public. They also opened the archives to anyone interested in conducting research. They formed a commission for historians, archivists, company representatives, and some survivors to discuss a more accurate account of the SNCF’s past," writes Federman.
I'm not a historian, but this strikes me as a role an archivist could play, or at least facilitate. This is especially important in organizations where the impetus to acknowledge and air the wrongdoings of the past doesn't always come from the top. Federman recounts how insurance company Lloyd's of London only acknowledged it had profited from the slave trade after long-standing pressure from Black employees.
If you work in a corporate archives at a company that has existed for more than 20 years, chances are you're sitting on some troubling stories. Consider digging a little deeper. Or hire a consultant to do so. :) And then it's equally important to be transparent and to make what you find public, to acknowledge past harms and take responsibility. Ideally this acknowledgement leads to some reparative action beyond a statement or apology. Federman offers examples that include funding for a community affected by the company's wrongdoing, or collaborating with members of that community to commemorate and honor their history.
I've worked in a corporate archives and have experienced the resistance you're likely to face. Unearthing and talking about these histories may challenge a company's identity or harm their public image. But owning up to the entire history of an organization, not just the parts that serve it today, is the right thing to do. And isn't it better to proactively take responsibility now than to backpedal shamefacedly when the truth eventually comes out?
Thanks for reading! If you have any comments or questions about this issue, please feel free to get in touch. Or follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter @SharonMizota.
ARTchivist's Notebook is an occasional newsletter musing on the intersection of archives, art, and social justice by me, Sharon Mizota, DEI metadata consultant and art writer.
I help museums, archives, libraries, and media organizations transform and share their metadata to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. Contact me to discuss your next metadata project today.