Microfilming History

The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is dedicated to the preservation of materials covering the political history of the world. Their varied resources include "The Pamphlet Collection of Twentieth Century Revolution and Change in Europe." Documents are sent to the Cataloging Department for processing, then on to Hoover's onsite Microfilm Department. "There is enough work here to keep my staff busy for the next hundred years," commented Wayne VanderKuil, Supervisor of the Microfilm Department.

When he needed a microfilmer to fill a vacancy, Wayne notified the Human Resources Department who, in turn, contacted AIM to fill the position. Susanne Hinds was placed in the assignment and began learning the intricacies of filming. "The final pictures must be legible or they have to be redone and spliced later," said Susanne. The emphasis is on quality production. Microfilmers produce a minimum of 1 roll of 100 foot of film per day which consists of 600 to 900 pages of related material.

The Institute is a non-profit foundation whose funding comes from a variety of sources. While most of the materials in the "Revolution and Change Collection" are pamphlets and printed materials, there are other items that are more unusual. "We have X-rays of Hitler's head and a pair of shoes in concrete that belonged to Ronald Reagan during his governorship,"stated Elena Danielson, Assistant Archivist. "Every day is like Christmas in the Archival Dept.; you never know what you are going to uncover."

Once the film has been produced, the materials are sent to the Preservation Department where they are reassembled and sent to be rehoused. Attention to detail as well as concentration is required to do this kind of work. Present and future historians will appreciate the painstaking effort of the Hoover Microfilm Department.