Report from the National AA Archives Workhop, Indepedence, Ohio

There were 166 people, 116 at the banquet, 25 states and three provinces (Quebec, Region 87, Ontario, 83 and 84 and Manitoba 80) were represented. 47 people took Thursday guided tours of Akron's historic sites. There are usually between 150 and 250 participants in this workshop.

G.S.O. was represented by Michelle Mirza, Director of Archives and April Hegner, Senior Archivist. Several former Delegates were also present.

We met with Jo-Ann L. who nominated Winnipeg. It has been accepted and in 2017, the National A.A. Archives Workshop will be held from September 28 to October 1. This will be the 1st National Workshop of A.A. Archives outside the United States.

Very nice workshop with a lot of information on conservation, restoration and document communication. An interesting workshop also on copyright. On several occasions, they mentioned the importance of defining our field of action. We bought the weekend CDs for $89. They'll be arriving by mail soon. We will always be able to consult them if we need information on a particular subject or to hear again a passage that touched us. At Dr. Bob's house, we also bought a DVD ($10) that tells the A.A. story with anecdotes and photos that we hadn't heard or seen before.

I sent the pictures I took to Pierre V. to put in our archives. Here are some of them:

We were also in the cradle of A.A. It was special to visit Dr. Bob's house and to see the Seiberling house where Dr. Bob and Bill first met. We heard about the first members throughout the weekend. It makes emotions rise.

I also had fond memories when I heard the presentation of the 35th million Big Book in Atlanta a few days earlier at the International Congress, as well as reading the dedication of the Chairman of the Board in this legendary book. The book was presented to the Sisters of Charity of Saint Augustine with whom Sister Ignatia served. One of them was present and had brought the Big Book in question.

Although I knew that a lot of work is being done in this committee, it made me discover even more the scope and importance of the 12th Step work accomplished as well as the passion of the people involved.

A word about anonymity.

We were asked not to give our last names when we were taking the microphone. The recordings may one day be on the Internet like YouTube. Also the understanding of this principle is different among Americans and Quebecers. The impression I have is that for them, it concerns the written and spoken press as well as cinema (including electronic media). It's more open than here, less hidden. We saw several photos and archival films of members taken from the front.

Pierre C.

Le 18e atelier national des archives AA a été riche en enseignements de toute sorte. Nous y avons rencontré des dizaines d’archivistes dont Eddy G, de Toronto Int’l et Jo-Ann L. de Winnipeg, de même que Michelle Mirza et April du BSG qui ont assisté comme nous à un programme de quatre jours portant sur de nombreux aspects de l’archivage.

We brought back documentation and workshop recordings. I will deposit them in a special section in the archives. The preservation, conservation and dissemination of documents were at the center of the discussions. I am in the process of transferring these records to the Dropbox and the documents should also be scanned. They do not exist in French but some of them would certainly deserve a translation.

The trip to Cleveland by car cost the committee about $1,200.
Pierre V. Area 87 Archivist