About SCI Archives
The international archives of the worldwide active peace organisation Service Civil International (SCI) provides extensive documentation on volunteering for peace since 1920. Situated in the town library of La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) its files, documents and photos are public accessible.
In more than 700 archive boxes, around 80 years of history of this international peace organisation is conserved. The Archives was established by the former international secretary which started in 1970s. Since 1998 Philipp Rodriguez coordinates activities of SCI Archives.
Structure of the archives
The files in SCI Archives are listed in an inventory, the . With help by 5-digit numbers the whole archives is divided in the different sections (see graphic).
Every box is labelled with an number which belongs to range of archives section. The files itself carry the number of the box and number after a dot.
e.g. 30403.1 Minutes of SCI India (1954-1958)
Role of SCI Archives within SCI
In acknowledgement of the importance of preserving and documenting the history of our movement the International Committee Meeting of SCI in 2002 has accepted the following resolution on SCI Archives:
- that SCI International Archives (SCI IA) is the official archives of the international co-ordination of SCI
- that SCI branches and groups are encouraged to properly archive their files of their administration & activities
- that SCI branches and groups are encouraged to give access to their files which are older than 10 years for historical, sociological, pedagogical research
- that SCI branches and groups are recommended to co-operate with library or archives on archiving matters
- that SCI branches and groups should send regularly newsletters, printed matters and other relevant documents to the International Secretariat in Antwerpen or to SCI International Archives
Bibliothèques de la ville of La Chaux-de-Fonds
In the town library of La Chaux-de-Fonds, a town in the north west of Switzerland, the International Archives of Service Civil International is situated. There the documents of SCI have found a suitable place together with other estates of Swiss Pacifists and the International Documentation Centre of the Esperanto movement.