Farewell after 45 years
Mementos from Montreal’s jazz age, back issues of the Journal, its predecessor the Thursday Report, the student press, notes and notebooks from Montreal journalists, university records and recordings of visiting speakers like Alan Ginsberg – all of these items are carefully classed, catalogued and preserved in a corner of the 10th floor of the Hall Building.
Most of them, or at least awareness of their existence, are also tucked in Nancy Marrelli’s head.
Marrelli has been the university’s Director of Archives since 1982. This month marks the end of her 45-year career at Concordia, and although she promises to remain Archivist Emerita and expects to lend a hand when her vast memory and knowledge are needed, her departure will be felt by many.
“I can’t download the stuff in my head, it doesn’t work that way,” jokes Marrelli.
Starting this week, the history of printing and ideas is the focus of a series of workshops, tours and exhibits on the theme Montreal d’idées et d’impression. Marrelli, as the archivist that transformed a university records department into a source of primary research material (while pausing to become a publisher and an expert and policy advocate on copyright) seems ideally suited to reflect on the history, and, of course, the future of records keeping.
Marrellli regularly has offered workshops to staff and faculty across the university on records maintenance and has welcomed hundreds of students into the archives to demonstrate both what the university’s collection has to offer, and how to ensure that the collection grows, is maintained, and provides material to future researchers.
When Marrelli first arrived in the archives’ then location in a Mackay Street annex in 1981, the archives primarily held documents related to the university records, including those of the 1974 merger that had created Concordia. Oh, and the documents were severely damaged by smoke and water following a fire, which is why she was assigned to help out from her previous position in the libraries.
Although her initial role as archivist was literally a trial by fire, she grew into the role and helped develop the archives as research repository. In particular, she oversaw the addition of papers and collections documenting the city’s past — especially as a hub of jazz music, both because of that particularity in Montreal’s history, and as a support to the university’s Department of Music.
Marrelli herself is so fascinated with the jazz-related material that she published Stepping Out: The Golden Age of Montreal Night Clubs 1925-1955 with Vehicule Press, the publishing house initially run by her husband, Simon Dardick. “It’s hard not to be involved with a publishing house when it’s in your house.” She and her husband met while working in the library in the 70s when they both helped establish the university’s first white collar union.
Over time, much of the archives’ material has taken on additional importance. For instance, a scrapbook maintained by Black jazz musician Mynie Sutton was originally compiled as nothing more than a career document.
“But it becomes part of Montreal’s social history. It is now used to document Montreal’s music scene and social life,” says Marrelli. And compare it with a similar scrapbook maintained by a White musician during the same period and a record of race relations emerges.
Marrelli says much of the material in the archives has been ‘repurposed’ by researchers over the years: Bar flyers and menus from the 1930s is a record of night life, a glimpse into the the cost of a night out or a repository of art deco design, depending on who is looking at the material.
Marrelli is all too aware of the importance of maintaining paper documents preserved in the collection, along with the new challenges of maintaining digital archives. Referring to the recent ‘digital dark ages’ she discusses how records, and the media used to preserve them can become obsolete in shorter and shorter periods (floppy disks, anyone?) requiring constant maintenance and the need for transfer that does not lead to degeneration of quality.
In addition to supporting university staff in their efforts to preserve Concordia’s history, Archives will continue to support university activities by preparing exhibits and materials for special events under whomever takes on Marrelli’s mantel in the future.
Marrelli will still be on hand this month: she will be running two training sessions for Concordia staff and departments. Find out more.