Archival Silences
One of the reasons I love history is because I love a good story. History tells us the stories of individuals, families, groups, nations—stories that help us understand our own lives and our place in the world. Archives are often called “the raw stuff of history,” the voices out of which the historical narrative is woven. But some voices ring more loudly in the archives than others. The term archival silence describes a gap in the existing historical record. It is particularly…