Results of the Compatriots Programme archival projects financed from the 2011 state budget of the Estonian Republic and information on the access to the materials

Project applicant – Project theme – Results

1. Alberta Estonian Heritage Society – Alberta Estonian Collection –Archival material was collected and developed, a manuscript was compiled and a website developed; databases about the history of the Alberta Estonian community were introduced and spread in Estonia and in the expatriate Estonian societies. More detailed information on the website of the Alberta Estonian Heritage Society http://www.aehs.ca/.

2. Estonian Archives in Australia – Participation in the summer school of the expatriate Estonian archives – Representatives of the the Estonian Archives in Australia participated in the archival summer school in Kääriku, Estonia.

3. Estonian Literary Museum – Collection, arranging, digitization of the émigré Estonian cultural material and transferring it into a database in the Estonian Cultural History Archives – The archives of Märt Raud, Asta Willmann and of the Estonian Committee were arranged; the photo material of Ivar Ivask, Oskar Loorits and Arvo Mägi were arranged, the “Teataja“ photo archive was digitised; the descriptions of the émigré Estonian collections of the Estonian Cultural History Archive (EKLA) were entered into the database ELLEN; the larger émigré Estonian archives were deposited in the Estonian Cultural Heritage Archive; an expedition to Stockholm and Uppsala – the photo collections in the Swedish Estonian archival group were arranged. Contact person: Vilve Asmer, tel: 737 7700.

4. Estonian Literary Museum – Compilation and publication of „Siberi setode laulud” (Songs of Setos in Siberia) – The project resulted in the anthology “Siberi setode laulud” that includes a disc format hardcover book, 2 CD discs and 1 DVD disc. Contact person: Anu Korb, tel: 737 7700.

5. Estonian Literary Museum – Making accessible the baltica/estica cultural heritage – The aim achieved: cataloguing, classifying and indexing the baltica/estica printed material and entering their descriptions into the ESTER database; systematizing, describing and processing baltica/estica small printed material in the ESTER; checking for the possible duplications of the émigré Estonian donations, their stocktaking and processing, electronic cataloguing and distribution to other libraries. Contact person: Merike Kiipus, tel: 737 7700.

6. Art Museum of Estonia – Arrangement of Vello Muikmaa´s photo archive – Vello Muikmaa´s photo collection handed over to the Tartu College Archives was systematized and archived; Muikmaa´s students and friends were interviewed and the conversations recorded; an exhibition on Muikmaa´s work was compiled and opened on Jan. 12, 2012 in the stairs gallery of Tartu College. Further information available at the Art Museum of Estonia, tel: 602 6001.

7. Estonian Heritage Society – Mapping of the burial sites of outstanding Estonian educators and scientists abroad and developing a public database – The database received additional data on the burial sites of outstanding Estonian educators and scientists. Expeditions to Germany on Oct.22-29, 2011, to St.Petersburg on Sept. 15 – 18, 2011; to Velikije-Luki, Andreapoli and Toropets in Russia on Oct. 7-10, 2011. Further information available at the Estonian Heritage Society.

8. Estonian National Museum – Arranging and supplementing the collection of the Estonian Diaspora – The archive collection of H.Teetlaus was arranged, the documents were grouped, described and the items were numbered and marked. The collection was entered into the Information System of the Estonian Museums MuIS and has been made accessible to the researchers (MuIS – http://www.muis.ee/).

9. Estonian Studies Center – Developing the collections of the Museum of Estonians Abroad (VEMU) – The representative of the Estonian Studies Center participated in the archival summer school in Kääriku, Estonia.

10. NPA Baltic Heritage Network – NPA Baltic Heritage Network activities for the representatives of the Estonian Diaspora and archival cooperation – The development of the BaltHerNet web portal, organization of seminars and summer schools, supporting the activities of the Museum of Estonians Abroad (VEMU), arranging the collections of the Estonian Archives in the U.S. Further information: NPA Baltic Heritage Network.

11. NPA Society of Estonians in the East (MTÜ Ida-Eestlaste Selts) – Recording of the information found on the tombstones at six Estonian cemeteries in the Black Sea coast Caucasian area – The data found on the tombstones at the Caucasian cemeteries was recorded. The data, both direct and indirect, was entered into a database which now includes information on 2673 tombs and 1684 buried persons. The material has been sent to the Estonian National Museum, to the Baltic Heritage Network, the Compatriots Programme and to others interested in the information. The database of Caucasian Estonians can be accessed on the website http://aule.ee/ida/. Contact person: Elvi Vaarmann, e-mail: Elvi.Vaarmann@tovl.edu.ee

12. NPA Association of Estonians Abroad (Välis-Eesti Ühing) – Archival information on the activities of the Association of Estonians Abroad between 1928 and 1940 – The collection of the Association of Estonians Abroad preserved in the Estonian National Archives was researched and the work resulted in an overview that described both the amount and the typology of the above mentioned archival documents. The table of contents, text and the illustrations of the sub publication “The archival data on the activities of the Association of Estonians Abroad between 1928 and 1940“ have been completed. Further information: Association of Estonians Abroad, tel: 6569200.

13. Estonian National Archives – Collecting Estica in the St.Petersburg archives – As a result of the expeditions the database „Estica in foreign archives“ received hundreds of new descriptions of archival documents while more than a thousand earlier entries were specified. The database contains 37000 descriptions of archival documents. Further information available at the Estonian National Archives http://www.ra.ee/vau/, contact person: Lea Teedema, e-mail: Lea.Teedema@ra.ee, tel: 7387560.

14. Estonian National Archives – Arranging and describing expatriate Estonian cultural heritage and making it accessible – The project involved making the archives of Sven „Tillu“ Hanson and the Swiss Estonian Society accessible through the Estonian National Archives´ information system AIS, while the photos were entered into the photo database FOTIS (http://www.ra.ee/fotis/). Further information: tel: 693800.

15. Estonian National Archives – Digitization of the expatriate Estonian cultural heritage and making it accessible in the Saaga environment – The aim achieved: Digitization of the protocols and correspondence of the exile Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church Synod and the materials that had belonged to the members of its congregations and making them accessible through the digitized resources database Saaga (http://www.ra.ee/dgs/explorer.php – church registries); making spare and user copies of the materials. Further information: tel: 7387500.

16. Estonian National Archives – Archiving of the sound recordings of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church Synod and the Union of Australian Estonian Societies in the Estonian Film Archives, expedition to Uppsala to collect expatriate Estonian cultural heritage and discovering estica in the Russian Central Archives of Film and Photographic Documents in Krasnoyarsk – The audiovisual archive of E. Nõu (including 1555 video cassettes, 9 video appliances, 16 handwritten copybooks of contents descriptions of the video material on the cassettes), was brought to the Film Archives from Uppsala. During the estica collection expedition the catalogues were studied, film and video copies were made of materials of interest, about 30 minutes all in all. Thirty two valuable photos were chosen and scanned. A photo album of the family of the Russian Tsar and of the Second World War was received as a gift. Further information: Paavo Annus, Estonian Film Archives, the National Archives of Estonia, tel: 6938 613.

17. Union of Estonians in Sweden – Estonian Archives in Sweden continuation project – Improving the preservation conditions of books and of the sound archive of the Stockholm local radio’s Estonian broadcasts preserved in the archives. The ongoing grading and identification of Harald Perten´s photo collection. Further information: Union of Estonians in Sweden, e-mail: rel@swipnet.se; or Vilve Asmer, tel: 737 7700, Estonian Literary Museum.

18. Tallinn University Academic Library – Preserving and making accessible the exile Estonian cultural heritage – Digitization of expatriate Estonian newspapers; supplementing the biographical database of expatriate Estonians VEPER; supplementing the database ISE; compiling the bibliography of Estonian books published abroad; collection of articles “Estonian scientists and engineers abroad” was published. Contact person: Anne Valmas, tel: 6659 439

19. Tallinn University Institute of History – Publication of A. Jürgenson´s monograph “Ladina rahva seas. Eestlased Argentiinas” (“Among the Latin people. Estonians in the Argentine”) – A monograph by A. Jürgenson “Among the Latin people” was published. Further information: Aivar Jürgenson, tel: 683 6451.

20. Tartu City Library – Providing the Estonian collections of articles published abroad with analytical bibliographies – The bibliographies of the Estonian collections of articles published abroad (327 bibliographic descriptions all in all) provided by Kaja Kleimann have been edited and made available to the public in the Estonian Articles Database. Further information: Tartu City Library, tel: 736 1382.

21. Tartu University Library – Archiving and providing access to the manuscript legacy of expatriate Estonian scientists at the Tartu University Library – In the course of the project all the private archives of expatriate scientists as well as those of expatriate institutions and organizations preserved in the Tartu University Library, were provided with descriptions in the e-catalogue ESTER. The manuscript legacy of Karl Laantee was arranged. Further information: Tartu University Library, tel: 7375 702.

22. University of Tartu – Mapping the cultural heritage of the Estonian churches abroad to be found in the archives of North America – Aim achieved: Describing the archives of Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church congregations in Canada and the U.S. Eight archives were described all in all. Further information: Faculty of Theology, University of Tartu, tel: 737 5300.

Compiled by Sigrit Mahla
National Archives of Estonia, tel: 7387509