On Thursday, March 5, the Trinity College Archives hosted a Personal and Family Archiving Workshop in collaboration with Wellness and Student Life Programming. The session brought together Friends of the Library along with a small group of students for an afternoon focused on approachable, practical strategies for preserving both physical and digital materials.
Personal and family archiving can often feel overwhelming. Many people do not know where to start, what is worth keeping, or how to preserve important items. The workshop aimed to make the process feel manageable by breaking it down into clear steps: surveying what exists, organizing materials in ways that are simple and sustainable, documenting the important details, and following some best practices for storage to help records last over time. The session also devoted time to digital preservation, which can feel especially confusing with the proliferation of platforms, file types, and devices involved. Topics included choosing stable file formats and creating systems for organizing and backing up files. Even small steps can support long-term access – no technical expertise required.
Personal and Family Archiving Workshop Attendees. Photo by Caitlin Chen.
Participants were also invited to explore examples from the Trinity College Archives’ collections, which helped illustrate the many forms a family archive can take. Materials ranged from photographs and letters to digital files, home movies, textiles, and heirlooms. The Mortimer Family Letters – hand bound volumes containing correspondence and schoolwork – showed how families have documented and preserved their history in lasting ways. The diaries of Mabel Cartwright – which include pressed flowers protected in archival enclosures – demonstrated how fragile items can be cared for over time. Participants were also fascinated by Gordon Sparling’s photo scrapbook documenting the construction of Trinity College. It sparked a lively conversation about the contemporary revival of scrapbooking and the ongoing appeal of assembling histories by hand.
Students examine some of the archival materials on display. Photo by Lindsay Grant.
A closer view of the Mortimer Family letters, and Mabel Cartwright’s diaries. Photo by Caitlin Chen.
There was also an opportunity to examine video and audio tapes, floppy disks, and a film reel, which allowed attendees to see firsthand the types of media that often present challenges for long term access. The workshop highlighted and demonstrated several of the tools used in the Archives in both physical and digital preservation work, giving participants a clear understanding of how to care for materials over time. One final highlight was the large artefacts box, where participants were delighted to find the original lock and key from the Bursar’s Office on the former Queen Street campus. It was impressively weighty!
A particularly enjoyable part of the afternoon was the chance to connect with attendees. Many shared stories about their own family materials, what they hope to preserve, and the challenges they face when organizing personal collections. These conversations helped people feel more confident about starting or continuing their own archiving projects. To support that momentum, the Wellness and Student Life Programming team offered “archival starter packs”, which included pencils, erasers, cotton gloves, and snacks (because who doesn’t need a snack when starting a new project).
Overall, the workshop brought community members together, highlighted the richness of family stories held in the Archives, and showed that preserving personal and family history does not need to feel intimidating. With practical tools and some guidance, anyone can begin building an archive that will preserve important memories for years to come.