Penza State Archives: Keeper of History and Secrets of the Past
Here they are, thick folders with documents, age-old “dust collectors”...
Sources of historical knowledge. The Penza State Archive is not just an institution where old documents are stored. It is a place where history comes to life, where every sheet of paper, every register book and newspaper file tells about the lives of our ancestors. The archive combines modern requirements for document storage and the atmosphere of past eras, attracting researchers, students and simply curious people.
On the wall of the building we are greeted by a memorial plaque to Tatyana Alekseevna Evnevich, a historian, local historian, archivist and director of the State Archives of the Penza Region from 1991 to 2016.
If you make inquiries, you can find out that the initiative to install a memorial sign was put forward by the scientific and creative community of Penza. The memorial plaque itself is a high relief made by the Penza branch of the Union of Artists of Russia, and the author is the Penza sculptor, Honored Artist of Russia Valery Kuznetsov. Inside, you can feel the spirit of the Soviet era: marble tiles in the hall, ornate metal partitions, green plants in pots. The atmosphere here is cozy, you can't say it any other way!
Painting on the wall of the reading room…
Getting into the archive is not that easy — you need to make an appointment in advance, fill out a request and wait… Because you can’t search for the same family trees every day — there are certain days set aside for this. And on these days, the composition of the “researchers” changes greatly. Grandmas with curls come, almost all in masks, and many in gloves, and start working with thick registers that record births and deaths by village, town, city. But it may also happen that on this very day a business traveler from another city will come to the archive. And he, as they say, has an honor and a place, because who could have foreseen this? And the person may have a dissertation at stake. Whereas for the same old lady… nothing more than a purely personal interest. So although there are not enough seats in the reading room, it also happens that there is always a place for a guest.
A reading room that has everything...
Well, it is clear that the rarest documents, many of which have existed for several centuries, are not so easy to obtain. You need to write down what, why, how, where from... But in principle, you can get everything if it is a serious matter. Well, the most accessible thing in the Penza Regional Archives is the newspapers. There are... well, just a lot of them. Regional, and district, and... all sorts. In first place, of course, is the newspaper "Pravda". But that was Soviet times. And there is also the newspaper "Gubernskie Vedomosti" from... 1837. To be honest, reading them is not at all interesting. It is not even clear what people read in them back then. Although... here is buying and selling with prices. Here are statistics (for some reason, the newspapers of that time were simply crammed with them), and government decrees on the front page. It became possible to read at least something interesting in this newspaper only after 1864. That's how! And we are getting a little ahead of ourselves with our story. For now, we have only just climbed the steep stairs to the second floor, where visitors find themselves in a spacious hall with leather chairs and stucco on the windows. This is where the immersion into history begins.
The newspaper "Pravda" with the news about Kirov's murder. Apparently, his portrait was in the center, but most likely someone cut it out, and the archive workers had to cover the empty rectangle!
From the depths of centuries: how the archive was created
The history of archival work in Russia began with the General Regulations of Peter I (1720), which prescribed that each institution should have an archivist - a specialist in document management. In the Penza province, archival work developed thanks to the efforts of enthusiasts.
The very beginning of the systematic work on collecting and cataloguing archival materials of historical value for the Penza region was laid by the Penza provincial scientific archival commission, which operated from 1901 to 1917, when scientists began collecting important documents for the history of the region. In 1919, a provincial archives department was created, which dealt with the documents of old institutions. In 1922, this department turned into an archival bureau.
After the abolition of the Penza province in 1928, the archival bureau became a district one. Then it changed its name and subordination several times. And only in 1939, after the creation of the Penza region itself, the NKVD archival department appeared.
Since then, the archive has changed management and subordination several times, but has always remained an important repository of documents. In 1991, the former archive of the regional committee of the CPSU was added to the archive.
The Penza archive was headed by different people, including scientists and historians. Since 1984, the archive has been located in its current building on Dzerzhinsky Street, 7. However, earlier the documents were stored in the Spassky Cathedral, which was later blown up and destroyed, and in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Church, which is now the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. A special role was played by the scientific archival commission chaired by V. Kh. Khokhryakov, which was engaged in collecting and systematizing historical materials, as well as the governor's archival bureau under A. A. Khvoshchev, which saved many valuable documents from destruction.
Local tour guides also like to recall the literary hero Ostap Bender, who in the novel The Twelve Chairs called himself "chief archivist." This adds a slight touch of irony to archival work, but in reality, the work of archivists is painstaking and important work.
The Heart of the Archive: Document Storage
The main impression on visitors is made by the repository itself. It is dark, cool (necessary for the preservation of the papers) and has a special atmosphere of mystery. Among the most valuable documents, you can find the oldest document of the archive (1627) - papers from the fund of the patrimonial office of the princes Bakhmetyev, the family tree of the princes Kurakin, Stolypin and other noble families, as well as registers of births, marriages and deaths of the province's residents. They contain everything - or rather, who is missing. So if someone had ancestors from Penza and you want to find out whether you are a descendant of some count, then this is the place to look in these thick books.
It is interesting that the population census was conducted once every 17 years, and during this time, “dead souls” really did appear, as in Gogol’s work. So our master really did not come up with anything extraordinary. Most likely, dealers like Chichikov really existed at that time. After all, 17 years is a long time. Many documents could have been lost if not for the efforts of enthusiasts. For example, part of the archives were saved from a paper mill, where they were sent for recycling. Thanks to Khvoshchev and Lyubimov, these materials ended up in the archive and are now available to researchers.
But how surprising it is that all these documents and archives have survived at all, because the daily newspaper Pravda was printed on thin, cheap paper - it could easily fall apart from a careless movement! However, the workers took care of this too: the institution's staff includes specialists who care for the condition of these valuable antiquities. Restorers carefully monitor that the documents do not lose their appeal.
But the archives of the same newspapers do not always arrive intact - here the restorers clearly had to try to hide this missing fragment. In this issue, dedicated to the murder of Kirov, the upper part has completely fallen into disrepair!
Although, it also happens that a whole half of the page may be missing...
Newspapers, memoirs and personal collections: what else is the archive rich in?
One of the most fascinating halls of the archive is decorated with a fresco depicting the life of ancient Russians - warriors, farmers, women with children. Lectures, exhibitions and presentations are regularly held here, which attract not only specialists, but also schoolchildren, students and anyone interested in history.
Of particular interest, as already noted, are:
- Files of the Penza Provincial Gazette - newspaper issues that help to understand how people lived in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
- Personal collections of famous people, including letters, diaries, photographs.
- Documents handed over by ordinary citizens, which may become the key to studying the history of the region.
How to find your ancestors?
One of the most popular services of the archive is genealogical research. Many people come here even from neighboring cities to restore their family tree. To do this, you need:
1. Call and arrange a visit (there are often a lot of people who want to do so).
2. Make a request to search for information.
3. Study the registers of births and censuses.
Archivists help you navigate the huge array of data, but independent search is also possible.
You can also find your relative by confessional records - these are documents that were compiled annually in every Orthodox parish in the Russian Empire from the 18th century until the revolution. They recorded the social status of all parishioners, and before the abolition of serfdom - the ownership of peasants and servants, place of residence, age and family composition. And in extreme cases - to interrogate relatives (both close and distant).
Another similarly damaged number. The material about how Vyatka became Kirov is interesting…
Why is an archive important?
Leaving the cool halls of the archive and going out into the summer heat, you can't help but think: without the past, there is no present. The documents stored here are not just papers. They are the memory of people, events, decisions that have shaped our reality.
The archive is also a place where destinies intersect. For example, one of the archive visitors shared that many years later she found out that her best childhood friend was her third cousin! It turns out that they had a common ancestor who lived in the 19th century - her great-great-grandfather, and only thanks to archival records was this connection revealed. That's how it happens: you live and live, and then suddenly it may turn out that your neighbor is your distant relative...
Shelves up to the ceiling. And so on for nine floors!
So it turns out that the archive is a bridge between the past and the future. Each document is a piece of history that awaits its researcher.
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