A Path to Non-Oblivion: A Brief History of the Bakhmeteff Archive

ABSTRACT For almost seventy years the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture at Columbia University has been considered an outstanding resource for the study of Russian émigré life. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Bakhmeteff Archive became a critical tool in the process of rewriting twentieth-century Russian history. Unfortunately, in search of “sensational” archival “discoveries,” mythology surrounding the history of the archive blossomed. This article will highlight the most important milestones of the Bakhmeteff Archive and will hopefully inspire scholarly research based on facts rather than mythology quest.