Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 300-85-47

Title

Administrative Files

Date(s)

1956 - 1994

Description Level

Series

Extent and medium (processed)

18 Archival boxes, 2.25 linear meters

Context

Name of creator(s)

Samizdat Archives

Archival history

Having been kept by Samizdat Archives (SA) staff in their offices for their personal use, these records were not selected by their creators for archiving purpose. They arrived to OSA in big cardboard boxes, mixed with other materials. Some records were in original folders (few of them with titles), many of them were loose. As a result very often it was not possible to identify a creator of particular folder.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

This series contains the administrative materials SA staff kept in their office files (or desks): all kinds of correspondence (mail, telexes, e-mails, handwritten notes, memorandums, reports), instructions, schedules, timesheets, requests, requisition papers, library slips, job descriptions, resumes.

These records give us a chance to understand how SA functioned. Of particular interest are numerous papers reflecting how the SA staff, in cooperation with RL/RFE management, was working on Samizdat materials and preparing them broadcasting.

Accruals

Not Expected

System of arrangement

Arranged alphabetically according to the English language titles, thereunder chronologically.

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

Limited

Languages

English, French, German, Italian, Russian

Notes

Note

Since in many cases it was impossible to identify a file’s creator it was decided to classify the records not by their creators, but depending on their sphere of circulation: within SA (Internal Issues), between SA and RFE/RL (SA - RFE/RL) and between SA and correspondents outside of the radio (External Relations). Inside the first group, records were subdivided into three sub-groups - General, Personnel, Samizdat Matters; inside the second and the third groups records were subdivided into two sub-groups - General, Samizdat Issues. As a title each folder has the name of the record group it belongs to, as a sub-title it has the name of its sub-group, and as a sub-sub-title it has its proper title (original or given). For example, a folder containing job descriptions of SA staff with the original title “Job descriptions" is designated as: [Internal Issues: Personnel:] Job Descriptions. A possible creator is indicated in square brackets when possible.