The Archive
Held at the North House. Catalogued continuously.
Essays, oral histories, field records, minutes, and preserved correspondence. Material marked closed is available to members through the Common Record.
Accession ACC/1986/03
A deposit of working papers and tapes, accepted at the North House in 1986, is listed separately from the general catalogue. The Wren deposit.
A second deposit, of transcription papers and one tape, was accepted in 1994 and is likewise listed apart. The Harrow deposit.
A third, of field papers and one tape, was accepted in 2001 and is listed apart in the same way. The Mercer deposit.
A fourth, of conservation papers and one tape, was accepted in 2006 and is listed in the same way. The Vey deposit.
A fifth, of field papers and one tape, was accepted in 2011 and is listed apart. The Calder deposit.
Where the cataloguer has gathered papers already held around a single question, the working file is printed with them. The enquiries.
Items 1–20 of 148 shown, from 149 in the public catalogue. Results are ranked in your browser as you type; nothing is transmitted.
COR/1976/014
Correspondence
Letter, E. Vale to T. Orrell
9 November 1976 · North House
The letter customarily read at a first attendance. Sometimes called the Founding Letter, though Vale never used the term.
First attendance
REP/1989/AR
Report
Annual Report, Year Ended 31 December 1989
April 1990 · The Continuance Institute
First publicly circulated annual report. Includes the category “Returns”, which is not defined in this or any subsequent report.
OH/2004/07
Oral history
Oral history: Dorothy Hargreaves
Recorded 12 June 2004 · North House
Neighbour of the North House from 1968. Not a member. Interviewed as part of the Penobscot County local record.
Open. Consent on file.
PRO/1978/02
Procedure
Notes for Stewards: A First Attendance
Revised 1978, 1991, 2011 · Stewardship
Standing guidance issued to stewards receiving a visitor at a public observance.
PHO/1971/22
Photograph
Photograph: kitchen, North House
Catalogued as 1971 · North House
Eleven persons at the kitchen table. Contact print, silver gelatin. Caption in an unidentified hand.
PHO/1989/07
Photograph
Photograph: E. Vale at her desk
Catalogued as c. 1989 · North House
Eleanor Vale seated at a desk among papers, looking away from the camera. Photographer not recorded. One of two photographic likenesses held in the Common Record.
Open. Reproduction on application.
COR/1993/108
Correspondence
Circulated dissent: “On Being Legible”
22 February 1993 · River House
Circulated to all houses by G. Idris. Published here at her request, with the stewardship's reply appended.
Open.
MEM/1986/09
Procedure
Memorandum: the designation of former members
3 June 1986 · Stewardship
Standing memorandum settling the wording used of a member who has left. Issued without discussion at any house.
Entered beside
COR/1986/141
Correspondence
Objection to MEM/1986/09, circulated to the houses
19 November 1986 · River House
Filed against the memorandum above. The objection is dated after the memorandum took effect, and after the first eleven designations had been entered.
Entered beside
Open. The stewardship made no reply. The memorandum was not laid before the houses.
PRO/1996/11
Procedure
House Handbook: Order of a Weekly Observance
1996 · Stewardship
The standard order, unchanged in substance since 1977.
MIN/1998/11
Minutes
Stewardship Meeting — Minutes
12 November 1998 · North House
Ordinary autumn business, taken after the loss of a residential property in October. Insurance, accommodation, and the rota.
Open.
LED/1998/04
Report
Statement of Loss and Reinstatement, autumn quarter 1998
31 December 1998 · North House
The costs arising from the loss of one residential property in October, set against the insurance proceeds. Reconstruction is carried at nil.
Open.
ACC/1999/03
Report
Accession note: the effects of Eleanor Vale
4 March 1999 · North House
The ordinary accession note entering Vale's papers and personal effects into the Common Record.
Open. The appended schedule is issued on application.
COR/2004/077
Correspondence
Letter, the archivist to a member, on the naming of a former property
18 May 2004 · North House
Why the historical name of a property no longer held is omitted from printed material. The reason given is the present owner.
Open.
MEM/1998/06
Correspondence
Memorandum: the disposition of the Record following my death
29 September 1998 · The Vale property
Estate and archival planning by Eleanor Vale, addressed to the stewardship. Catalogued in full; the body is restricted at the author's instruction until a further review.
Held outside the Common Record
Restricted. Description open; body withheld under the author's instruction.
CON/1999/02
Report
Conservation note: recovered papers, October loss
21 January 1999 · North House
What was carried out of one room, what it cost to dry it, and what remains unaccounted for.
Open.
MEM/2025/04
Correspondence
Memorandum on publication and correction
16 April 2025 · Archive, North House
The archivist's paper on when a superseded or disputed record should remain available. Circulated to the stewardship and to all houses.
Read together
Open.
MEM/2025/07
Correspondence
Memorandum in reply: the obligations owed to the living
2 September 2025 · Orchard House
The Steward of Orchard House replies to MEM/2025/04 and argues that the Record is not entitled to everything it is capable of keeping.
Read together
Open.
COR/2025/188
Correspondence
Request for closure of a catalogued item
11 November 2025 · Received at the North House
A former member's daughter asks that a photograph and an accompanying letter be closed. Printed with the correspondent's consent; the family name is not given.
Open in this form. The original letter and the items it concerns are treated at CAT/2025/12.
CAT/2025/12
Procedure
Treatment note: items subject to a closure request
3 December 2025 · Archive, North House
What the archive actually did with two items while the question of what it ought to do remained open.
Open. The items themselves are closed pending review.
128 further items under the present terms
Also held — WEB/1998/1
The Institute's website, 1998
Three pages, transcribed from a printout held at the North House. Preserved as printed and not corrected. It gives the founding year as 1972, lists twelve houses, and names a steward of the Western House.
Also held — WEB/2004/3
The house intranet, 2004
Two legible pages recovered from a machine at Shore House. Internal notices and a house extract of the Record, including standings, the forwarding of Western post, and a notice instructing stewards not to answer enquiries about another notice.
Terms used in these documents — first attendance, closed observance, no longer continuous, reconciliation — are defined in the Words in the Record, which links each term back to the records in which it appears.
The public catalogue lists 10 of 21,406 items. Requests for access are made in writing to the archivist at the North House. Each item may be issued as a PDF with its reference and citation.