"How Many Rubles Do American Archivists Earn Annually?" Soviet and American Archival Collaborations during the Late Cold War

How many rubles do American archivists earn annually?" was the question archivist F. G. Ham was asked the most throughout his conversations with Soviet archivists during his lecture tour to the Soviet Union in October 1988. This unexpected question, indicating familiarity, gives a glimpse into the development of professional and personal networks between American and Soviet archivists during the 1980s. These connections were made possible by an exchange program established by the Commission on Soviet American Archival Cooperation (COSAAC), organized to fulfill the specific provisions of the Geneva agreement on scientific, technical, and educational cooperation signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. It was the first time in the history of the Cold War that an archival cooperation agreement was signed between the US and the USSR. In this paper, part of a larger dissertation project, I will present the history of the committee, the various motives and interests for its establishment, the professional agreement signed which led to numerous biliteral trips of Soviet and American archivists, as well as the archivists’ experiences during these trips. An examination of this professional committee shows how the politics of glasnost and administrative decisions set in motion a dynamic process that fostered networks of interpersonal connections among archivists. These networks were critical in facilitating the circulation of individuals, knowledge, and practices across the East-West divide. Accounts of the various actors involved in COSAAC reveal how the Soviet-American archival networks had social and emotional dimensions including intellectual companionship, trust and personal friendship. The focus on archivists as creators of formal and informal contacts yield a social history of the archive, one that moves beyond institutional and political histories, demonstrating how archiving and archival practices become integrated into the daily life of ordinary people.