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This essay examines the ethical implications of the 1997 accession of the papers of Theodore Kaczynski by the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan. The author seeks to analyze the actions of Assistant Curator Julie Herrada. Ethical issues such as sensitivity to the community, the archivist's duty in dealing with controversial collections, and the idea of "reactive advocacy" are discussed. Third party privacy rights and the archivist's ethical dilemmas in dealing with donors and restrictions are also analyzed. Ultimately, this essay shows that the case of the Kaczynski papers is extremely useful in highlighting some of the ethical issues that archivists deal with on a smaller scale every day.
To collect only the pleasant, the democratic, the pleasing records that document our past-the aspects of American life that make us all proud-would be so simple. However, this is not life-nor should it be-and these types of records do not give a complete picture of our culture and our history. These were the thoughts of Julie Herrada, the then Assistant Curator of the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan, when she wrote to Ted Kaczynski in 1997 requesting all of his personal writings and materials that he had in his possession. The papers that Kaczynski eventually sent to Herrada were housed in the Labadie Collection, an archive that had long made it its mission to document the radical and social protest movements in American history, acquiring materials on antiwar, transgender, anarchist, and alternative sexuality movements (none of which would be considered mainstream). Concerns over controversial acquisitions, media interference, third-party privacy rights, and donor requests all played a significant part in Herrada's experience, and add an invaluable dimension as a case study to any further discussion of such issues.
The University of Michigan and the Ted Kaczynski Papers, 1997-1999
Ted Kaczynski was arrested in 1996 on charges of being the notorious "Unabomber" for two decades. During his violent campaign he mailed bombs to individuals involved in fields related to science, genetic engineering, forestry, airlines, and universities. Before his arrest in 1996, three people were killed and twenty-four were injured (Herrada, 2003-2004, p. 35). Kaczynski was captured in 1996, and after a long trial, pleaded guilty on January 22, 1998. He was sentenced to...