We archivists tend to promote our collections far more than we promote ourselves and our daily work. For one thing, collections are our life’s work and, thanks to that work, will long outlast our individual lives. For another thing, archivists follow certain professional codes of ethics that mean we strive not to impose our individual prejudices on how we collect, describe, and provide access to historical documents and official records.

Nevertheless, archives all over the world need informed citizens to support the labour that goes into preserving communal and corporate documentary memory. This is why in this blog we’ve tried to show you what goes on behind the scenes in archives. We think it’s important to realize that behind archives are not only the people who created the documents, but also the people who take care of them.

Since archives staff are people too, privately we have our favourite records. This is why we made our most recent exhibit all about us – in a way. Staff members have each been assigned an exhibit case, headed by their short biography, to populate with a selection of their favourite records. Not only that, but our display labels reveal our personal responses to these records. We hope this exhibit showcases the way archives connect people over time.

We’ve discovered that a person’s favourite archival records tell as much about them as their favourite books or movies (if not more). But to get to know us through our personal picks, you’ll need to visit the Reading Room. (Our mini-biographies below don’t tell the whole story of our multi-faceted personalities!)

Following are some tasters from the exhibit. Meet the team who provides archival services to the 1.4 million residents of Peel and its various municipal governments, and check out a handful of our favourite records.

Jim Leonard, Regional Archivist

I have always been interested in architecture, history, politics and art. I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to work in a profession that has let me explore my interests.

My very first summer job was inventorying heritage buildings in my hometown Cobourg. The bulk of my career has been in the archival profession, as City Archivist in Peterborough, Provincial Heritage Registrar with the Ontario Heritage Trust and now as Regional Archivist at PAMA.

However, I have also been able to travel along a few different paths. My first full-time job was in museum collections management, working in community museums and art galleries in south-central Ontario and then at the Ontario Museum Association. Later I worked in municipal heritage planning for a number of years. Along the way, I have been able to help document and conserve different facets of our fragile cultural heritage.

Kyle Neill, Senior Archivist

I have always loved history, and I am grateful that I have found a career that allows me to indulge my interests. Born and raised in Mississauga, I never thought I would be fortunate enough to serve as an archivist for this area. However, armed with degrees in History, Teaching, and Information Studies, and with some incredible luck, here I am.

My fascination with official records was sparked by working with classified national defence and NATO records at Canada’s national archives. As a Peel archivist, I am similarly drawn to what I refer to as our “glorious government records,” records created and/or collected by the various municipal governments that have existed in this area since the early 1800s.

Samantha Thompson, Archivist

I first became interested in how manuscripts are preserved during my doctoral studies on a thinker from late antiquity. I also learned a lot by teaching university undergraduates research skills. Later, while studying to be an archivist, I took a course on preserving local history where I worked on a project about nineteenth-century relationships between First Nations people and settlers in my area of Mississauga. So began my quest to help save and tell the stories captured in archives.

As an archivist my favourite collections include personal papers, especially letters and diaries. I’m also generally interested in nineteenth-century manuscripts, the social history of technology, advocating for archives, and paleography (reading old handwriting).

Nick Moreau, Reprographics Specialist

After being trained in advertising and graphic design by Mad Men-era creatives, I received a commission from the Peel Heritage Complex to redesign a computer kiosk. That led to a contract for the art gallery, and stints working for visitor services, education, development, and the museum, before settling in long-term with the Archives. I deal largely with digitization of the collection for preservation or alternative access, and related things like Twitter and the web.

As a child, I had an active interest in history, which included creating a Brampton history-themed board game as a child, which easily won its category at the Brampton Fall Fair.

The exhibit is open now until late November 2017, and is accessible during the Reading Room’s operating hours.

by Samantha Thompson, Jim Leonard, Kyle Neill, and Nick Moreau