Founding brothers: Leland, buck, and cappon and the formation of the archives profession (session 404)

This session on archives history examines the role of three individuals-Waldo G. Leland (1879-1966), Solon J. Buck (1884-1962), and Lester J. Cappon (1900-1981)-in the formation of the archives profession in the United States in the first three-quarters of the twentieth century. These "founding brothers" published extensively, but they also created and maintained personal manuscript collections that reflect how they viewed themselves and how they wanted to be remembered. Four archivists/historians track through the lenses of the papers of the "founding brothers" the emergence of professional history to the beginnings of public history with their alliance and tension with archival science as a distinct profession