Women's Memories Recalled Through a Journal

By Anonymous

This week in the Archives, we were tasked to look through the files in the archived boxes given to each of us. When I opened my box, I was surprised to see there were only two books inside. I decided to grab the purple book that caught my attention first. The purple book turned out to be a shared journal that used to be located in Crozier. The purpose of this journal was for women to share what was on their minds and leave a piece of themselves documented for history. I was fascinated as I was reading and looking through the journal by the things that people wrote down. There was a variety of things included in this journal, such as poetry, sharing opinions, sharing daily activities, and even a "Heterosexual Questionnaire."As I was reading through, I kept making comments to my group about the things I found interesting. I would say one of my favorite things that I read was, "Do you wonder why men only talk to you when you're drunk?" It is clear that throughout this journal, a lot of the women connected and related to what previous women had written. The book itself seems like an object that is the embodiment of women's experiences and their memories.

For one of the readings from this week, Assmann argues that memory is deeply connected to forgetting, both on an individual and cultural level. She distinguishes between active forgetting, such as censorship or destruction, and passive forgetting, where things are lost, neglected, or fall out of use. Cultural memory is maintained through two key institutions: the canon, which actively preserves and circulates selected works and ideas, and the archive, which passively stores forgotten or marginalized materials for potential rediscovery. The balance between these two—the canon’s selective remembrance and the archive’s latent storage—creates a dynamic cultural memory that evolves over time, shaping historical understanding and identity.

The shared journal from Crozier serves as a powerful example of Assmann’s distinction between the canon and the archive in cultural memory. While mainstream historical narratives often prioritize the experiences and voices deemed worthy of preservation (the canon), this journal functions more like an archive, passively storing the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of women who might otherwise be forgotten. The journal’s existence challenges traditional forms of remembrance by preserving perspectives that do not always fit within dominant historical records. Assmann’s ideas also highlight the fragility of such memory—had this journal been discarded, neglected, or actively censored, its contents might have been lost to time. Yet, its presence in the archive allows for rediscovery, offering a glimpse into past conversations and connections among women. This underscores the importance of archival spaces in safeguarding marginalized voices, ensuring that memory remains dynamic and open to reinterpretation rather than simply dictated by the selectivity of the canon.

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