From photos of students studying in the quad to attending class in Southam Hall, Carleton student Niġel Klemenčič-Puglisevich is giving Throwback Thursday a whole new meaning.
Klemenčič-Puglisevich, a third-year Greek and Roman studies and history student, launched the Carleton University Historica Instagram account in January, posting photos of Carleton campus life in the late 1960s.
In February 2020, after filming Sock ‘n’ Buskin’s stage production of King Lear, he said he came across a box of old 35 mm slides in the campus theatre group’s office.
“This is a box that they had in their office for quite some time. [The group] had no idea how it had gotten there or whose it was,” Klemenčič-Puglisevich said.
He said his experience working in museum archives and passion for digitizing photos encouraged him to take on the project of digitizing the slides.
“It’s such a shame that they’ve just been sitting in a box for so long and nobody’s been able to see them,” he said. “I didn’t really know where I was going with the account … I just knew that I wanted to get the photos out there for people to see.”
Using his slide scanner, he has digitized over 30 photos into a high-resolution format that can be posted on Instagram where they would be easily accessible to students. While the original photographer and exact date are unknown, Klemenčič-Puglisevich has approximated the date to 1967, given references to the Vietnam War.
Krissy Draper, a second-year history student and one of the account’s followers, said she enjoys this historical perspective of Carleton, especially the photos of the tunnels on campus.
“It is so interesting to see how different, but also how similar our campus is today compared to … the late 60s,” she said.
Chris Trainor, department head of Archives & Special Collections at MacOdrum Library, said it is important to create and protect archives for future generations to access, like Klemenčič-Puglisevich is with his Instagram account.
While Archives & Special Collections isn’t associated with the account, they have a vast collection of photos of the Carleton campus from over the years.
“Saving them is part of our mandate in terms of supporting culture and heritage,” Trainor said. “Having these photographs provides snapshots of our crowds and what the campus looks like in different times of history.”
The pandemic has shown the importance of having accessible digital archives, whether on social media or a website, Trainor said. He added digitizing the university’s collection is currently one of his top priorities, but copyright and permission are key issues with digitization projects.
Klemenčič-Puglisevich is aware that, since the original photographer of the photos is unknown, there could be copyright concerns. Unless he is asked to take them down, he said the photos should be accessible to the public since they provide important historical insight.
Under Canadian copyright law, works with an unknown author are under copyright for 75 years after their creation. If the photos were taken in 1967, as Klemenčič-Puglisevich believes, they would be out of copyright in 2043.
He has also received consent from Sock ‘n’ Buskin to post the photos and eventually donate them to Carleton’s archives.
Klemenčič-Puglisevich said he plans on further investigating the mystery behind these photos this summer by tracking down the photographer. He also plans on digitizing more and uploading them to other websites so that a wider audience can enjoy these snapshots from Carleton’s past.
“During this time when we can’t gather on campus, seeing pictures of happier times brings back a lot of good memories for people,” he said.Niġel Klemenčič-Puglisevich
Featured image provided by Niġel Klemenčič-Puglisevich.
