Jeonju Citizens’ Archive: From Personal Memory to Collective History

Jeonju Citizens’ Archive opened last December 10^th. The archive is home to various records of the citizens’ everyday life.

The city of Jeonju has passed the ordinance on collection and management of civilian records in 2016. This enabled excavation of important records on everyday life that have been sleeping or forgotten in people’s houses. In December 2019, the city has published an edited booklet of donated civilian records.

Jeonju Citizens’ Archive will be the center for systematic collection, management, and usage of the various records of the city.

The first floor of the archive exhibits various records and media contents. There are even photos of old Jeonju printed on hanji paper, a speciality of Jeonju. The second floor of the archive is the storage of the records and administrative space.

The donors, locals, people appearing in the records, managers of the archive, and others participated in the opening ceremony of Jeonju Citizens’ Archive.

The city of Jeonju has held a series of contests to discover and collect modern and contemporary records that are worth preserving. The city has been rewarding the participants.

The exhibition hall is designed to function simultaneously as space for exhibition, study, and preservation. The records are protected by temperature and moisture control, and fire-proof installations. There are 21 mobile racks for both preservation and exhibition.

I saw some yearbooks from the 1930s to the 1980s, school newspapers from the 1950s to the 1990s, envelopes that conveyed salaries, land registers, list of marks from the provincial archery competition, old postcards featuring major attractions of Jeonju, and many more that records the modern and contemporary history of the city.

The media room displayed the digitalized version of some civilian records, showing how media technology can shed new light on the old civilian records.

The display showed the donor and the value of the record. Touching the flashing keyword on the wall played video.

■ Textual records

■ Visual records of places

■ Old household goods

This projector slides 40 photos with hand gestures. The photos reminded me of my parents when they were young.

The 57 years history of Jeonju Stadium is reborn as the hologram and video. These were produced based on the donation by Mr. Im Yang Won, who supervised the construction of the stadium.

I wish Jeonju Citizens’ Archive continues to accumulate the civilian records and serve the visitors and researchers.

Jeonju Citizens’ Archive

Address: Gyunhoenro 264, Deokjingu, Jeonju

Contact: 063-281-2932

Opening hours: 09:00~17:00 (closed on weekends and public holidays)