1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,440
CRIS PASCHILD: John has been working with rare 
books and manuscripts in Oregon for over 35 years  

2
00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:10,200
and has been called on to appraise and evaluate a 
number of key historical collections in the state,  

3
00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:17,430
including the library of papers of Mark Hatfield 
and the papers of author Ken Kesey. We are pleased  

4
00:00:17,430 --> 00:00:21,720
to have him here tonight to talk a little bit 
about the collection from the perspective of  

5
00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:27,540
someone who has worked so much with what's out 
there documenting Oregon, and how he sees this in  

6
00:00:27,540 --> 00:00:47,370
that context. JOHN HENLEY: First of all, I want 
to thank you, Charlotte. I'm deeply honored to  

7
00:00:47,370 --> 00:00:53,550
be part of this and I want to thank your family 
and you for everything, for changing the world,  

8
00:00:53,550 --> 00:01:05,280
and I want to thank you for collecting and 
donating this wonderful library collection  

9
00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:13,620
of yours to my alma mater. I kind of spent most 
of my undergraduatecy right on this floor, so I'm  

10
00:01:13,620 --> 00:01:24,540
home. And also for hiring me to appraise your archive.
Again, it's a great honor. Mahatma Gandhi said that  

11
00:01:24,540 --> 00:01:30,600
a small body of determined spirits fired by 
an unquenchable faith in their mission can  

12
00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:38,910
alter the course of history, and he's 
right, it's true. The Rutherford family, by their  

13
00:01:38,910 --> 00:01:45,600
unceasing efforts while they lived, changed the 
world, and their efforts continue beyond the grave  

14
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:52,890
by this archive. I could talk a long time about the 
importance of the archive, but I'm going to try to keep  

15
00:01:52,890 --> 00:02:01,110
it short. To start with, imagine what it would be 
like if we had one appointment book for Lincoln or  

16
00:02:01,110 --> 00:02:11,130
Jesus or Buddha. Wouldn't our history change? Just 
one appointment book. Of course, we could  

17
00:02:11,130 --> 00:02:17,550
get in some funny jokes about that. Think
of the things we could learn. And then, stop and  

18
00:02:17,550 --> 00:02:24,930
imagine how poor we would be without a little tiny 
archive: it was a diary by a teenage girl and her  

19
00:02:24,930 --> 00:02:35,940
name was Anne Frank. How that changed our hearts.
The things in archives, like photographs, letters, 

20
00:02:35,940 --> 00:02:43,860
diaries, checkbooks, ledgers don't interpret 
history, they don't put a spin on history, they  

21
00:02:43,860 --> 00:02:51,390
are the stuff of history. For those of you who 
would write biographies, this archive is a  

22
00:02:51,390 --> 00:02:58,950
smorgasbord of documents, photographs, appointment books, checkbooks, pamphlets, newspapers, photographs, 

23
00:02:58,950 --> 00:03:05,880
and all kinds of ephemera that will let you look 
into the very hearts of this important family. For  

24
00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:11,910
those of you would like to write general histories,
social histories, cultural histories, Portland  

25
00:03:11,910 --> 00:03:18,570
histories, Oregon histories, national histories, you 
have been given a pantry teeming with groceries  

26
00:03:18,570 --> 00:03:26,550
to prepare a thousand factual feasts. And for 
you students wanting to write papers and theses.

27
00:03:26,550 --> 00:03:34,140
this archive presents you with an endless menu of 
possibilities. I foresee at least two dozen books  

28
00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:41,460
coming out of this; books by historians, biographers,
sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists,

29
00:03:41,460 --> 00:03:48,510
and maybe even a novel and play. Personal and professional archives usually focus on the  

30
00:03:48,510 --> 00:03:56,520
career of one person. Most of the archives I see come in a shoebox. There's letters, you know, say  

31
00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,530
passed down from the family. They could be letters home from a soldier on the front or maybe tender  

32
00:04:01,530 --> 00:04:10,470
loving letters. Then there's the archives usually kept by some professional feller who's got 10  

33
00:04:10,470 --> 00:04:18,210
boxes of everything he did in his career or her career. Such archives are wonderful snapshots into  

34
00:04:18,210 --> 00:04:26,940
history. If these are snapshots into history, 
this archive is a full-length feature film  

35
00:04:26,940 --> 00:04:33,900
in color produced by Cecil B. DeMille in a cast of thousands: this is a very important archive.

36
00:04:33,900 --> 00:04:41,340
I have appraised the personal letters of Mark 
Hatfield; I have appraised the professional  

37
00:04:41,340 --> 00:04:46,410
archive of Ken Kesey; I have appraised some of the president... lots of letters from presidents, 

38
00:04:46,410 --> 00:04:53,580
Washington up to George W. I'm waiting for 
Barack's letters next. I've handled lots of  

39
00:04:53,580 --> 00:05:00,420
things. This is the most significant, historically significant collection I have ever appraised. The

40
00:05:00,420 --> 00:05:15,930
Rutherford family archive is about an entire 
family and an entire community in this regard.

41
00:05:15,930 --> 00:05:21,120
The Rutherford family is exceptional, and 
that's why it's significant. The historical value  

42
00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,320
is derived from the fact that it is source 
material; it is derived from the fact that it is  

43
00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:31,770
complete--and I mean every scrap of paper, I know, I've gone through it--every photograph, every note  

44
00:05:31,770 --> 00:05:36,990
pad has a direct relationship to another paper, another photograph, another scrap of paper. It

45
00:05:36,990 --> 00:05:44,940
all comes together. You get the whole picture. The 
archive is more complete, more comprehensive, more  

46
00:05:44,940 --> 00:05:49,770
interrelated to family, to community, to city, 
to nation than any other archive I have ever  

47
00:05:49,770 --> 00:05:57,390
handled ever. And bearing that in mind I want to encourage all of you to start saving your archives.

48
00:05:57,390 --> 00:06:06,570
Yeah do your emails, but send real letters with 
real stamps, and I want you to do like the Rutherford

49
00:06:06,570 --> 00:06:11,700
family and when you take a photograph, take 
two minutes and identify on the back or on the  

50
00:06:11,700 --> 00:06:19,920
side who is in that picture, because to future 
generations this is a gold mine of information.

51
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:30,420
It puts people in a community: who was with you.
And whether we like it or not, we're all part of  

52
00:06:30,420 --> 00:06:42,180
history, and that's why we must preserve ours with 
archives. I encourage your your children and their  

53
00:06:42,180 --> 00:06:52,380
children to keep adding to this archive. Say yeah, 
save everything. I want to close by thanking my  

54
00:06:52,380 --> 00:06:57,990
alma mater Portland State University for taking 
this gift, and I want to especially thank you  

55
00:06:57,990 --> 00:07:09,990
Cris. Where we went, there you go. It is a 
commitment to preserve an archive. There's money,  

56
00:07:09,990 --> 00:07:17,220
there's effort, there's taking care of the items,
and archives can be lost if they're not protected.

57
00:07:17,220 --> 00:07:23,370
I can tell you lots of archives I've seen go up 
in smoke, go into trash cans, get just... you know,  

58
00:07:23,370 --> 00:07:31,140
mice make a home in it, you know, it's a mess. But it's not just the preservation that's important,

59
00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:37,140
it's the accessibility. If you don't have 
accessibility to an archive, its usefulness is  

60
00:07:37,140 --> 00:07:46,650
diminished. If it's just locked up, why have it? 
If the city of Portland does not truly understand  

61
00:07:46,650 --> 00:07:54,330
the significance of this gift, they will in the 
fullness of time. As Dr. Millner has pointed out, we  

62
00:07:54,330 --> 00:08:01,740
are temporary; our memories fail us and our society 
continually wants to reinterpret history. We are

63
00:08:01,740 --> 00:08:08,160
always reinterpreting things, but the documents, the 
documents remember, the page remembers, the

64
00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:15,480
printed word, the scrap of paper, the photograph,
it remembers what we cannot. It lasts longer than  

65
00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:23,640
we do. And for those people who generate archives,
your family and Cris, for those of you who take  

66
00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:31,560
care of this, I applaud you, because you're nothing 
less than the noblest stewards to the truth. Thank you.