Today, I launch a new blog called the Posterity Project -- a place to share my interest in news and issues related to archives, public history, and social media applications for archives, along with reflections on archives and history from my home state of Tennessee.The Posterity Project was created and is maintained by me, Gordon Belt. I am an information professional, archives advocate, and public historian specializing in local archives and public records research, government and public policy research, and legislative history and bill tracking. I received a master’s degree in History in 2003 from Middle Tennessee State University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1994 from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and have worked in special collections libraries and archives here in the "Volunteer State" since 1995.
The name for this blog was inspired in part by a chapter in Joseph Ellis's book, His Excellency: George Washington. In the book Ellis writes about George Washington's obsession with chronicling the details of his life and experiences through his paper records, correspondence and memoirs. Washington was meticulous with the arrangement and description of his personal papers. His “posterity project” was an effort to directly influence how history and future generations remembered him through careful management of the documentary evidence of his life. A word from the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution also inspired the name for this blog...
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As one of our nation's founding documents, the Constitution, as well as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights greatly influenced me at an early age to pursue archives and public history as a career. I thought it was only fitting to choose the Posterity Project as the name for this blog.
In the Delcaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson called for a "decent respect to the opinions of mankind," so I don't plan to engage in any divisive, partisan commentary on my blog. The Posterity Project is a place where archives, history and the importance of public records are celebrated, from a "Volunteer's" point of view. My blog's tagline is "Documenting the links to our past," so to fulfill that promise I plan to use this platform to share news and information found online relevant to these areas of interest. I hope you enjoy reading the Posterity Project and please feel free to comment at any time.
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