The Archival Record of Psychology: Saving our Past to Secure our Future

For historians, one of the most important of all sources of data are archival repositories. Archival repositories provide, in essence, the "inside story," free of editorial revision or censure and marked by the currency of time as opposed to suffering the losses and distortion of later recall. The single largest collection of archival materials on psychology anywhere in the world can be found at the Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP) at The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. Founded by psychologists John A. Popplestone and Marion White McPherson in 1965, its purpose is to collect and preserve the historical record of psychology. Central to this mission is the preservation of personal papers, artifacts, and media that tell the story of psychology. This paper provides an introduction to the AHAP and discusses the opportunities and challenges that exist in ensuring the historical record is properly preserved and made available for use by historians.