SAHR Tuesday Talks – The Archives of the ATD Quart Monde movement by Paule René-Bazin

The International Council on Archives – Section on Archives and Human Rights invites you to its next conference on 4 June 2024 at 16:00 CET (Paris Time): 

The Archives of the ATD Quart Monde movement by Paule René-Bazin

The talk is free and open for anyone to join, with recordings made available through the SAHR’s playlist of ICA YouTube channel. Registration is required to receive full details on how to connect to this virtual meeting.  

Summary 

It is very exceptional that a movement at the instigation of its founder puts history at the heart of its action and, as a result, takes great interest in its archives, keen to preserve them as best as possible, convinced of their usefulness. It is probably even unique that a founder assigns to his movement the objective of allowing the populations concerned, namely the poorest, to appropriate their archives and thus their history. In 2023, the importance of action with international bodies to have the rights of the poorest recognized was illustrated by an event celebrated by the Movement: these archives were in fact included in UNESCO’s International Memory of the World Register. 

The presentation will be organized around the following themes: 

• The personality of Joseph Wresinski, founder of the ATD Fourth World Movement at the end of the 1950s 
• The Joseph Wresinski Center where the archives are kept, since its inauguration in 1987 until now. 
• The different fonds which form a very important whole, on very varied media (archives of the Movement, writings of volunteers, sociological and economic studies, archives of the founder, photographs, oral testimonies, art objects) 
• Among the archives of the Movement, a separate fate will be given to the international fonds which reports on the action undertaken very early before international bodies, notably the UN. 

In conclusion, development prospects will be discussed (information system, promotion of the fonds, reception of the various users, particularly researchers). 

Guest Speaker 

Conservateur général du patrimoine, Paule René-Bazin spent most of her career in positions where she was responsible for the collection and processing of political and social archives from the 20th century, often of a confidential nature (ministerial archives, contemporary conflicts, private fonds of politicians, etc.). Responsible for the International Archives Technical Internship between 1987 and 1993, she was in charge of the international relations of the Archives of France within the framework of the International Council of Archives. In particular, she supported in the organization, processing and promotion of its archives the ATD Fourth World movement a non-profit organization which fights against extreme poverty and social exclusion. In this context, she processed a large archival fonds resulting from the international action of the Movement. She presented various communications on the original action of the founder, Joseph Wresinski.