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{{Short description|Indian and American oral history initiative}}
{{Infobox archive
| name = The 1947 Partition Archive
| established = {{Start date and age|2011}}
| type = Oral history initiative
| founder = Dr [[Guneeta Singh Bhalla]]
| location = [[Berkeley, California]], [[United States]]
| collection_size = 12,000+ video interviews (as of {{date|June 2025}})
| website = {{URL|1947partitionarchive.org}}
}}

'''The 1947 Partition Archive''' is a [[501(c) organization#501.28c.29.283.29|501(c)(3)]] [[Nonprofit organization|non-profit]] [[oral history]] organization in [[Berkeley, California]], and a registered trust in [[Delhi, India]] founded by [[Guneeta Singh Bhalla]] that collects, preserves, and shares first-hand accounts of the [[Partition of India|Partition of India in 1947]].<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/arts/potent-memories-from-a-divided-india.html?_r=0|title=The New York Times|date=13 August 2013 |accessdate=2014-07-13|last1=Sengupta |first1=Somini }}</ref>

Given the sensitive relationship between Partition stories and Hindu–Muslim relations, a small portion of the Archive's collection has been released to the public via online streaming in collaboration with [[Stanford University Libraries]].<ref name="indianexpress">{{cite web |date=25 May 2014 |title=Now an archive that collects stories of Partition |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/now-an-archive-that-collects-stories-of-partition/ |accessdate=2014-07-13 |publisher=The Indian Express}}</ref> Currently, online access to the full collection of stories is granted on a case-by-case basis to scholars for academic research. Access to the full collection is also available to the public by appointment at The 1947 Partition Archive's headquarters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/1947-partition|title=Explore the Personal Stories of Partition|date=May 22, 2017|website=The 1947 Partition Archive - Spotlight Exhibits}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://1947partitionarchive.org/archive_access/|title=Archive Access – 1947 partition archive}}</ref>

On July 27, 2021, the organization collaborated with the [[Berkeley, California|City of Berkeley, California]], to declare June 3 as the Partition Remembrance Day because it was on this day in 1947 that the [[Governor-General of India|viceroy]] declared the [[Partition of India#June 1947 plan|Mountbatten Plan]] to divide India.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-06-05 |title=First Partition remembrance day marked in US, India |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/first-partition-remembrance-day-marked-in-us-india/articleshow/92011939.cms |access-date=2023-07-11 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indiacurrents.com/city-of-berkeley-proclaims-partition-remembrance-day/|title=City of Berkeley Proclaims 'Partition Remembrance Day'|first=Staff|last=Writer|date=August 9, 2021|website=India Currents}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailycal.org/archives/berkeley-city-council-names-june-3-as-annual-partition-remembrance-day-to-honor-india-pakistan/article_665dd672-f127-50ae-8dbd-581a7839d44e.html|title=Berkeley City Council names June 3 as annual 'Partition Remembrance Day' to honor India-Pakistan Partition|first=Kavya|last=Gupta|date=August 2, 2021|website=www.dailycal.org}}</ref> On August 8, 2024, the organization released its book, ''[[10,000 Memories|10,000 Memories: A Lived History of Partition, Independence and World War II in South Asia]]'', featuring nearly 300 oral testimonies and 1,000 photographs illustrating the voices of the partition survivors spread across various countries in South Asia and elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-03-09 |title=Partition archive' inaugural book 10,000 Memories, a lived history of partition set to release on Friday |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/partition-archive-inaugural-book-10000-memories-a-lived-history-of-partition-set-to-release-on-friday/articleshow/98523248.cms |access-date=2023-07-11 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/gripping-storytelling-session-busts-many-myths-surrounding-partition-101678734398356.html|title=Gripping storytelling session busts many myths surrounding Partition |first=Jyoti |last=Punwani |website=Hindustan Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://10000memories.com/|title=10000 Memories – To know where we are going, we must know where we have come from.}}</ref>

== History ==
The organization started in 2010 when Dr Guneeta Singh Bhalla<ref>{{Cite news |last=Singh Bhalla |first=Guneeta |date=August 13, 2016 |title=Why we gave up our careers to bring you stories of Partition |work=Dawn |url=https://www.dawn.com/in-depth/partition/comment/why-we-gave-up-our-careers-to-bring-you-stories-of-partition-guneeta-singh-bhalla/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=August 12, 2022 |title=75 years of India partition: How tech is opening window into past |work=Al Jazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/12/75-years-of-india-partition-how-tech-is-opening-window-into-past}}</ref> began recording video interviews with elder Partition witnesses throughout the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and was formalized in 2011. The creation of the 1947 Partition Archive was inspired by the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial]] and the work of various [[Holocaust]] memorials.<ref name="indianexpress" />

== Organization ==
The 1947 Partition Archive [[Crowdsourcing|crowd-sources]] the collection of [[Partition of India|Partition]] witness interviews and conducts free classes, in the form of an online [[Oral history|Oral History Workshop]], to train volunteers in story-collection and interviewing techniques.<ref name="thenews">{{cite web |title=Archiving memories of shared, partitioned past |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-14-210979-Archiving-memories-of-shared,-partitioned-past |accessdate=2014-07-13 |publisher=thenews.com.pk}}</ref> As of June 2025, over 12,000 interviews have been collected from more than 450 cities and villages in 14 countries including [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], and [[Israel]] among others.<ref name="indiatoday">{{cite web |title=1947 beyond the tracks |date=25 January 2020 |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/1947-beyond-the-tracks-1640044-2020-01-25 |accessdate=2020-02-19 |publisher=indiatoday.in}}</ref><ref name="1947PA">{{cite web |title=The 1947 Partition Archive website |url=https://www.1947partitionarchive.org |accessdate=June 19, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Anand Chawla |first=Noor |date=July 30, 2022 |title=RECORDING STORIES OF PARTITION SURVIVORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD |work=The Sunday Guardian |url=https://sundayguardianlive.com/culture/recording-stories-partition-survivors-around-world}}</ref> These interviews are documented in diverse languages and dialects. The Archive's website includes a Story Map that shows the migration patterns of each interviewee.<ref name="thehindu">{{cite journal |title=U.S. group preserves memories of partition |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/us-group-preserves-memories-of-partition/article5767488.ece#comments |journal=The Hindu |date=9 March 2014 |publisher=thehindu.com |accessdate=2014-07-13}}</ref>

The Archive's methods of crowdsourcing story collection include Story Scholars, a fellowship program in which individuals are chosen based on academic merit and prior experience to conduct interviews in a selected region, and Citizen Historians, a program in which volunteers can contribute Partition stories to the organization's website.<ref>{{cite web |title=1947 Partition Archive Project Director Interview |url=http://calhum.org/news/blog/1947-partition-archive-project-director-interview |accessdate=2017-03-07 |work=California Humanities Blog |publisher=calhum.org |archive-date=2017-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308141446/http://calhum.org/news/blog/1947-partition-archive-project-director-interview |url-status=dead }}</ref> Based on the Archive's digital media platforms, ordinary citizens across the globe are "invited to join free oral history webinar workshops to learn the basic techniques for documenting oral histories, as outlined by the [[Oral History Association]] and [[Baylor University|Baylor University’s]] open-source online resources."<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Singh Bhalla |first=Guneeta |date=May 19, 2023 |title=The 1947 Partition Archive: A Living, Evolving Crowdsourced Archive on India's 1947 Partition |url=http://www.thirdtext.org/livingarchives-singhbhalla |journal=Third Text: Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Art and Culture}}</ref> According to Dr Bhalla, "workshop attendees who successfully submit their first oral history interview, and it matches The Archive’s standards with its nine-point criteria, are certified as ‘Citizen Historian’ volunteers."<ref name=":0" />

The Archive has previously offered funding for a one-month immersive residency to university faculties and students to research on Partition, known as the [[Tata Trusts]] Partition Archive Research Grants, in association with the [[University of Delhi|Delhi University]], [[Ashoka University]], and [[Guru Nanak Dev University]]. The primary objective of the Archive is to collect the "vanishing history of [[Punjab]] and [[South Asia]] through crowdsourced lived memories."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Singh Bhalla |first=Guneeta |date=2021 |title=Gathering the Vanishing History of Punjab and South Asia Through Crowdsourced Lived Memories |url=https://sikhresearchjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/articles/SRJ_V6N1_Spring2021.pdf |journal=Sikh Research Journal |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=37–49 |doi=10.62307/srj.v6i1.62 |via=Sikh Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhatt |first=Neha |date=August 12, 2022 |title=Legacy of India's Partition was reduced to a minor event. After 75 years, community groups are bringing private pain to the fore |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-indian-pakistan-partition-legacy}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Partition Museum|The Partition Museum, Amritsar]]
* [[Partition Museum, Delhi|The Partition Museum, Delhi]]
* [[Kolkata Partition Museum]]
* [[Opposition to the partition of India]]
* [[Violence against women during the partition of India]]
* [[Partition of India]]
* [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|Partition of Bengal]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [https://www.1947partitionarchive.org/ Official site (current version)]
* [https://www2.1947partitionarchive.org/ Official site (older version)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:1947 Partition Archive}}
[[Category:Organizations based in Berkeley, California]]
[[Category:Partition of India]]
[[Category:2010 establishments in California]]

The 1947 Partition Archive - Revision history

MariskaFeari3794: Starting stub.