|
|
PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1. Identity
and Location
2. Legal Information
3. Identification
4. Management
plan
5. Assessment
against the Selection Criteria
6. Consultation
7. Nominator
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8. Assessment
of Risk
9. Preservation
Assessment
PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1.1 Archives of Emile Vandervelde.
1.2 Belgium.
1.3 French-language community.
1.4 13, boulevard de l'Empereur, B-1000 BRUSSELS; tel: 32(0)2.548.32.13;
fax: 32(0)2.548.23.19.
1.5 Institut Emile Vandervelde. Bibliothèque et Archives (Library
and Archives).
2.1 Institut Emile Vandervelde, asbl, 13, boulevard de l'Empereur, B-1000
BRUSSELS.
2.3 Not-for-profit association
(a) Private property.
(b) The statutes of the institution stipulate that in case of dissolution,
the archival heritage shall be transferred to an institution with the same
aim. That institution must be based in the French-language community of
Belgium.
(c) Open to all, Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from
2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Closed the first fortnight of August and the last week
of December.
(d) No copyright.
2.4 The library and archives service of the Institut Emile Vandervelde
is recognized as a private archive centre of the French-language community.
It is managed by professional archivists and historians who scrupulously
apply regulations on archive preservation, classification and inventory.
The various inventories which have been drawn up testify to their professionalism.
3.1 The papers of Emile Vandervelde (1866-1938), undisputed leader of
the Parti Ouvrier Belge (Belgian Workers' Party) from 1894 until his death
and figurehead of the Socialist International, consist of almost 1,500
items divided into four sections: newspaper articles, files, correspondence
and speeches.
3.2 Three inventories have already been published on the holding. The
final volume, on the speeches, will be issued in 1997.
3.3 In addition to the papers there is an interesting photographic
archive illustrating many aspects of Emile Vandervelde's life.
3.4 This holding was left to the Institut Emile Vandervelde by Jeanne-Emile
Vandervelde, the second wife of Emile Vandervelde, in the early 1960s.
This is probably why the holding covers mostly the last part of Vandervelde's
life, from 1927 to 1938.
3.6 Janet Polasky. Michel Dreyfus.
The items are divided into four sections, entitled:
- newspaper articles;
- speeches and lectures;
- files;
- correspondence.
Each item has been inventoried and an inventory has been made of each
series based on classification by date or by alphabetical order, for example,
that of the correspondents for the letters. A description is given of each
item.
5. Assessment against the selection criteria
5.1 The personality of Emile Vandervelde, who was one of the leaders
of social democracy and socialism from before the First World War, and
even more so between the wars, is ample illustration of the importance
of the archives. The influence of the man they called 'the Boss' matched
that of someone like Jean Jaurès, whom he succeeded working on the
Dépêche de Toulouse. Vandervelde was in contact with
all prominent individuals in Belgium and abroad, he travelled the world
from Argentina to Japan and from the Belgian Congo to Bulgaria. A determined
anti-fascist, he committed himself wholeheartedly to the Spanish Republican
cause. With his work spanning the last quarter of the nineteenth century
and the first 30 years of the twentieth century, Emile Vandervelde lived
through a transitional period in the evolution of industrial society, in
particular regarding its social dimension. He was one of those who contributed
to the establishment of the welfare state.
5.2 This documentary holding perfectly complements other archive holdings
relating to socialism and, more broadly, international relations. It is
an extremely interesting, not to say essential supplement to other sources
held in, for instance, Ghent, Amsterdam and Moscow.
5.3 Most of the items held are authentic. A very small proportion is
in the form of photocopies.
5.4 The set of almost 1,500 items or files does not constitute all
of the documents accumulated by Emile Vandervelde throughout his very long
political career. It nevertheless represents the most considerable documentary
holding.
6.1 The nomination comes from the scientific official in charge of the Library and Archives Department of the Institut Emile Vandervelde, acting on behalf of the owner. He is available to anybody who would like to know more about the quality, originality and historical wealth of the archive.
7.1 Lallemand, Philippe, 13, boulevard l'Empereur, B-1000 BRUSSELS.
7.2 Director of the Institut Emile Vandervelde.
7.3 Musick, Arlette. Archivist at the Institut Emile Vandervelde.
7.4 Library and Archives, Institut Emile Vandervelde, 13 bd. de l'Empereur,
B-1000 BRUSSELS (32 - 2/548.32.13).
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
- nil;
- stable political climate;
- good technical resources for preservation;
- convention of the institution, recognized as a private archives centre
by the public authorities, with the French-language community of Belgium.
Subsidies of 3.6 million BF per year;
- collections open to all.
9.1 Good state of preservation. The items are in folders filed in archive
boxes deposited in premises reserved exclusively for the archives. The
premises have fire-doors and fire-fighting equipment. Staff only are allowed
to enter. Items are made available to readers in a reading-room.
The collection was given to the Institut Emile Vandervelde by his widow
in 1963. Since then it has remained in the same place. Having been initially
processed in the early 1970s, it was re-filed at the beginning of the 1990s
by professional archivists who produced the first three volumes of the
overall inventory. The final volume of the inventory is due to be published
in 1997. It will be completed with a cumulative table of the indices. Researchers
will thus have access to outstanding research tools. An inventory of the
photographs is also being considered.
The service in charge of preservation is the Library and Archives Department
of the Institut Emile Vandervelde.