Review of the archival funds on the activities of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments from the 1960s to the 1980s

The article presents a review of Russian archival funds related to the protection of historical and cultural heritage and the activities of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (hereinafter VOOPIK, or the Society). The study is based on materials from various state organizations, including the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF), the Perm State Archive of Socio-Political History (PermGASPI), the State Archive of the Perm Krai (GAPK), the Center for Documentation of Public Organizations of the Sverdlovsk Oblast (CDOOSO), the United State Archive of the Chelyabinsk Oblast (OGACHO), and the Perm Museum of Local Lore (PKM). The relevance of the study lies in the growing interest of the state, academia and society in both grassroots activism and mass voluntary organizations in the late Soviet Union. The Soviet experience is particularly valuable as many of its initiatives are being revisited in contemporary Russian reality. The main basis for Soviet studies are archival sources, which are regularly introduced into academic circulation. The aim of the article is to study and classify archival sources on the above topic. In addition to the review, the article provides a brief historiographical overview of the problem's research status, as well as a historical note on the activities of the VOOPIK. The author identifies several types of sources in archival funds and provides a brief description of each. An important role in studying the activity of Soviet mass organizations is played by the determination of the levels of research - from the republican (RSFSR) to regional (oblast, krai, ASSR) and grassroots (district, city) levels. This division justifies the use of both central and regional archives, as the archival sources from Central Archive (GARF) provide an understanding of the specifics of the functioning of the central apparatus of the VOOPIK, while the sources of regional archives recreate a picture of activism on “grassroots level” where the main productive activities of the Society took place. When using archives of different levels, one can change the optics of research and study VOOPIK from different angles. The study pays particular attention to the “Letters to VOOPIK” written by Soviet citizens to authorities, media, and voluntary organizations regarding the protection of historical and cultural heritage. These letters, which were a common practice in Soviet everyday life, can shed light on the motives and goals of the activists.