By McKinley Knoop

As Ghosh notes in her article “National Narratives and Politics of Miscegenation,” the very smell of the archives has been preserved from ages past. Within the archives exists a time and place lost to modernity, from the very smell of the records down to the individual books. Hidden among the numerous records and accounts lies the secret history of nations, remaining in wait for someone to uncover the past. Without the archives to safeguard the remaining remnants of our past, we would be unable unlock the motives and causalities of bygone times. It is through archives that we can read letters from Revolutionary War celebrities John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, as well as from the politically insignificant farmers and peasants. Without archives, historians would have to resort to wild guessing, using modern-day frameworks and lenses to view a historical mystery.
While archives are not necessarily integral to the creation of a nation, they are essential for upholding and supporting its continual existence. In her article “What is an Archive,” Milligan writes of a battle between the recognition of the laws of the state and the preservation of family honor. If Chabrier had allowed the private letters to be burned in order to uphold the Praslin name, he would have compromised the integrity of the archive, while setting precedence for the government to cave to private demands in the future. However, what right did the public have to access private records, to besmirch the name of innocent children? When and why were the public allowed to access the archives? Chabrier’s decision, while not directly influencing the creation of modern France, did set a model for future actions. The national archives of France thus established itself as a place of probity, constructing morals for a new nation.
Were the Dickinson archives the same way? Were they also important for the creation of the United States? While the Dickinson archives did not play the same role as those at say, the Library of Congress, they did play an important role in establishing a system of independent, reliable archives across the United States, unconnected to the whims and impulses of the federal government. Along with thousands of other archives and private libraries across America, the Dickinson archives provide a check to the factuality and inclusiveness of the government archives. If the government decided to erase or destroy certain records of history, our independent documents would be able to account for gaps or inconsistencies. Although the Dickinson archives were not in and of itself important for the creation of our nation, they do play an important role in establishing and maintaining honesty in history.