page_title: League of Nations archives
section_title: History and scope
hierarchical_section_title: League of Nations archives / History and scope
context_page_description: The League of Nations archives is a collection of the historical records and official documents of the League of Nations. The collection is housed at the United Nations Office at Geneva, where it is managed by the Institutional Memory Section of the UN Library & Archives Geneva. It consists of approximately 15 million pages of content and comprises nearly 3 linear kilometers. The League of Nations archives' historical significance is recognized by UNESCO, with its inscription on the Memory of the World Register in 2009.
context_section_description: Throughout its existence (10 January 1920 - 18 April 1946), the League of Nations created and stored records; however, its archives overlap its founding and dissolution, dating back to the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, and extending through the liquidation of the League after its closure in 1946. In general, the League kept records only as an aftereffect of its functions (i.e., without the intention of preserving its history). As early as 1919, the Secretariat of the League developed a Registry, which was responsible for opening files and keeping registers regarding administration as well as the League's official acts, particularly as embodied in the functioning of the Council and Assembly and their affiliated committees, commissions and conferences.
  In 1946, the nascent United Nations received the League's records and registry documents. At the time, these were not considered to be an archive in the true sense of the term, and access was extremely limited. It wasn't until 1956, during their reorganization under the UNOG Library that they were formally recognized as separate from UN administration. However, access was still very limited, granted to researchers only on a very strict "merits" system.
  In 1965, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace proposed to finance a project to open League materials to researchers.The project commenced in 1966 and concluded in 1969. The main deliverable was the creation of the archives' primary finding aid, the Répertoire Général (accessible in External Links), corresponding to the change of the League's records and documents into a proper archive. Access to the archives was further defined by the official rules established in a two-page document titled "Access to League of Nations archives," published in the Secretary-General's bulletin in 1969.
caption: The Registry was responsible for the registration and processing of archives at League of Nations Headquarters. Pictured is the Palais Wilson, which served as Headquarters from 1920–1936.
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