Preserving historical memory is an important task for present-day society

Schoolchildren and students, teachers, employees of school museums and district libraries, and residents of the Leningrad Region who had written the most interesting papers about the historical past of their home town gathered at the University.

Nikolai Shtykov, Chair of the Public Council of the Leningrad Region Archive Committee and Head of the St Petersburg University Archival Centre, was one of the members of the expert jury assessing the contest essays.

Preserving historical memory is an important task for present-day society. Today, we must therefore pay special attention to the formation of interest to the history of the family and the history of their native land among the students of universities and schools and the whole population of our region.

Nikolai Shtykov, Chair of the Public Council of the Leningrad Region Archive Committee and Head of the St Petersburg University Archival Centre

‘This year, the contest "My History is Part of the History of the Leningrad Region" was held for the first time as a trial project, the aim of which the organisers saw in drawing attention to local and regional history. It is noteworthy that the contest turned out to be interesting for participants of different ages. They got an opportunity to learn better and show the history close to them: the history of their family, settlement, and enterprise’, said Nikolai Shtykov.

Formation of collective memory, joint ‘writing of new "living" pages of the history of native land and historical education of residents of the Leningrad Region’ is considered relevant by Andrei Savchenko, Head of the Leningrad Region Archives Department, who initiated the contest. Opening the official ceremony, Andrei Savchenko stressed that its important distinction was that the residents of the region were able ‘without regard to age or social status to show the history of their family as the history of the great Leningrad family’. One of the important tasks, as Andrei Savchenko noted, is ‘to join the ranks of like-minded people and close associates, people interested in preserving and filling the pages of the history of the Leningrad Region.’

The Head of the St Petersburg University Archival Centre noted the high level of the essays submitted and the range of the sources used. The contest committee considered 58 entries, with 39 of being written by participants aged from 7 to 18. The contest was open to pupils, students and adults, with a special nomination being given to mixed groups, where family members, teachers and leaders of creative groups with pupils were all on the same team. Their sources of information include archival documents, sets of newspapers, home photo albums, family heirlooms, stories and interviews.

Many of the papers are real micro investigations, carried out at a good local history level, and local and regional studies. And it is no coincidence that the contest is being held under the auspices of the Leningrad Region Archives Department, one of whose tasks today is to popularise the region’s history and popularise the archival heritage.

Nikolai Shtykov, Head of the St Petersburg University Archival Centre

Improving the culture of working with archival documents, introducing the archival depositories and accumulating material, particularly on the history of the Leningrad Region, is one of the tasks of the Archival Centre of St Petersburg University, which is managed by Nikolai Shtykov.

In recent years, intensive cooperation between historians of the University and archivists has developed. Academics and students take an active part in events organised by the Archives Department and the archives of the Leningrad Region. In March 2021, they took part in the Archival Landing project, prepared jointly by the Search Movement of Russia and the Leningrad Region State Archive in Vyborg (LOGAV). They also assisted in identifying documents in Finnish about the occupation of the Leningrad Region during World War II. For students in the two academic programmes at St Petersburg University − the master’s programme "Russian Region Studies" and the bachelor’s programme "History" − archival practice at LOGAV (Vyborg) is successfully carried out. The Archives Department is a partner in the organisation of major conferences such as the St Petersburg Historical Forum and the Archival Congress, where considerable attention is paid to the culture of working with historical documents, forms of interaction between state authorities, archivists and users of documentary heritage.

The official ceremony was attended by: Tatiana Trubkina, Deputy Head of the Leningrad Region Archives Department; Iuliia Kripatova, Director of the Leningrad Region State Archives; Svetlana Krasnotsvetova, Deputy Chair of the Public Council at the Leningrad Region Archives Department, Member of the Board of the Regional Branch of the Russian Historical Society in the Leningrad Region; Gennadii Moskvin, Deputy Chair of the Public Council at the Leningrad Region Archives Department and founder of the Leningrad Region History Club.

In 2021, cooperation agreements were concluded between St Petersburg University and the Archive Committee of St Petersburg, the Leningrad Region Archives Department, the Main Archive Directorate of the Moscow Region, and other regions. Those agreements are primarily intended for: organising archival practice; teaching and guiding activities; and cooperation within the framework of councils of academic programme. As part of the cooperation, exhibitions of archival documents from regional archives are held and teachers and students are also involved in their preparation.