About Us
World Learning & School for International Training’s Institutional Archives
The Alvino E. Fantini Institutional Archives is comprised of more than 30 collections and is in Brattleboro, VT, on the campus of the School for International Training.
World Learning’s archives preserves the past for the future by storing items that reflect World Learning’s history, development, and evolution. The archives team collects, preserves, protects, organizes, describes, and provides access to the institution’s historical records, documents, visual and aural materials, and other items.
The History of the Archives
In 1955, founder Donald B. Watt proposed the consolidation of institutional records in a single location. An archivist was hired who established the original collection covering the period 1932–1941, which was later extended to 1967. In 1967, SIT Founder and President Dr. John A. Wallace ordered the purchase of microfilm equipment for the efficient conversion of materials. But systematic storage of materials lapsed, and items were dispersed to various locations.
In 2003, SIT Professor Emeritus Dr. Alvino E. Fantini proposed to reestablish the institutional archives. Approval was granted in May 2004 and then SIT librarian Shirley Capron assisted with the effort. At this time, an archival task force was established consisting mostly of retired employees.
The Archives Today
Today, Dr. Fantini is the director of the archives and is supported by a committee of volunteers who are dedicated to serving faculty, staff, students, and departments within the institution as well as external individuals such as historians, researchers, educators, and journalists who have an interest in the history of the institution and its educational practices. The committee works in coordination with archivists from neighboring institutions and local historical societies in Windham County, VT.
Areas of the archives include, but are not limited to:
- Administrative
- Education
- Historical Strategic
- Governance
- Legal
- Research
- Practices and Lessons Learned
The Archives Collection Development Procedure
The archives seeks to obtain recorded information and items of enduring value to World Learning related to administrative, academic, or student programs. The archives aspires to serve as an essential resource for individuals interested in the history of World Learning and its unique place in the development of international and intercultural education, service, and development. Especially welcome are items that help to reflect the institution, its founders, faculty, students, and staff.
The archives’ 30 collections are:
- Albums and Photos
- Audio-Visual
- Awards, Markers and Plaques
- Campus Sites (Putney, SIT, Washington, D.C.)
- Conferences
- Documents
- Educational Materials
- Events
- Federation Experiment in International Living (FEIL)
- First 25+ Years (Founders & Presidents)
- Group and Participant Photos
- Historical Materials
- International Development and Exchange Programs
- International Honors Program (IHP)
- Journals and Newsletters
- Media and Press Coverage
- Objects and Realia
- Orientation and Training Materials
- Peace Corps
- Promotional Materials
- Publications (Experiment Press)
- Refugee Projects
- Related Organizations
- Sandanona Orientation and Training Center
- SIT Graduate Institute (SIT) Programs
- Study Abroad
- Society for International Education, Training & Research (SIETAR)
- Special Programs and Projects
- The Experiment in International Living
- World Learning
Requests of the Archives
The Alvino E. Fantini Institutional Archives is available to World Learning faculty, staff, and students, as well as alumni and outside researchers, educators, or journalists. Please note that because the archives is operated by volunteers, access is by appointment only and on a limited basis. To submit material for the archives, set a date and time to access the archives, or ask any questions, contact the archives director at [email protected].
