Explore.  Create.  Preserve.  Share

At the Academy and Archive of Autobiography we give voice to untold personal stories, through our growing collection of donated letters, diaries, journals, personal memoirs, unfinished manuscripts, videos, drawings, and audio recordings.  We foster literacy through our education branch and encourage people to start a journey of self-expression, where they are inspired to capture their own micro-history, sometimes in a written form and other times as an oral tradition. We support the artform of autobiography and the collection of items that contribute to history, through an annual event where people are encouraged to share their personal memories. The materials we preserve bring stories to the forefront and reveal details and facets about our society that are invaluable to understanding our own identities. Based in Cobourg, Ontario, the Academy and Archive of Autobiography is a national not-for-profit organization that has applied for charitable status (application under review).

What do we collect?

We collect letters, diaries, journals, personal memoirs, unfinished manuscripts with writing in their margins, videos, drawings, doodles and audio recordings.

Do I need to be famous to share my stories?

We feel that everyone is famous in their own lives and that everyone has an interesting story to share.  Some of the most significant change has been prompted by people who don’t identify as celebrities or even as leaders.  We seek stories that speak to the human spirit, ones that show a state of being, challenges met, and triumphs achieved.  We want stories that are important to you, so please donate to our collection and let your voice be heard.

How do I create my own micro-history?

Join one of our workshops and we will show you, or start by looking through past journals, diaries, even scratchpads you’ve scribbled on. Consider any letters left to you by great-grandparents, grandparents, and aunts. There is usually a story to be found.

Do I lose control of my materials if I donate them?

Most of our collection is donated by individuals or families who want to preserve their history and offer a legacy for future generations. We preserve it, and the right-holders retain the rights to their materials for a specified period of time before the Academy and Archive of Autobiography assumes these rights. If you donate your cherished memories, you can specify who you share access with. This means you can restrict access to friends and families and open it for full access a hundred years from now. Or you can opt to make your stories available to members of the Academy and Archive of Autobiography, researchers or even the public at large.

ACADEMY AND ARCHIVE OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND COMMON PEOPLE’S STORIES has the purpose to collect diaries, memories, and other materials from individuals to give voice to untold personal stories in order to better understand how individuals or small communities contributed to the creation of a particular historical period. The charity corporation encourages common people to bring this kind of material and eventually publish or make public some of them through the organization of an event. Also the charitable corporation looks to collect across Canada materials from immigrants, prisoners, women, and all other kind of people that are marginalized from a community. Most of the materials, like letters, diaries, personal memories, are produced by common people who rarely think about themselves as writers, storytellers or film makers, and they would not think to make public these productions, not realizing the type of contribution that their stories bring to the community and society, if they are revealed. Another purpose of the AAACPS is to create a national net of local archives, which do not have a public voice, and to join the international net of  autobiography archives.

ACADEMY AND ARCHIVE OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND COMMON PEOPLE’S STORIES has the purpose to collect diaries, memories, and other materials from individuals to give voice to untold personal stories in order to better understand how individuals or small communities contributed to the creation of a particular historical period. The charity corporation encourages common people to bring this kind of material and eventually publish or make public some of them through the organization of an event. Also the charitable corporation looks to collect across Canada materials from immigrants, prisoners, women, and all other kind of people that are marginalized from a community. Most of the materials, like letters, diaries, personal memories, are produced by common people who rarely think about themselves as writers, storytellers or film makers, and they would not think to make public these productions, not realizing the type of contribution that their stories bring to the community and society, if they are revealed. Another purpose of the AAACPS is to create a national net of local archives, which do not have a public voice, and to join the international net of  autobiography archives.