Students on an immersive visit to the Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail

On that October morning, around twenty students gathered in front of the imposing red-brick fortress – the former Motte-Bossut spinning mill – which now houses the Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail. Organised into small groups, the visit was led by Ludovic Cailluet, Associate Dean and Professor of Strategy and Business History at EDHEC, as part of a course entitled ‘History of Organisations’. The session focused on 19th-century businesses, using the example of the textile industry in Roubaix.

Welcomed by Adrien Mauriaucourt, archivist and head of the public engagement and educational outreach department, the students first learnt about the history of the building and its restoration, before finding out more about the various roles of archivists.

Founded in the 19th century by Louis Motte-Bossut, the spinning mill grew rapidly over the decades despite devastating fires and several periods of strike action. Faced with increased competition, it began to decline towards the end of the 1970s and closed permanently in 1981. Threatened with demolition, the disused factory was chosen to house the world’s first labour archives centre as part of a major project launched when François Mitterrand came to power. This choice was all the more symbolic given that the Nord region had been severely affected by deindustrialisation in the textile, mining and steel industries.

The building was inaugurated in 1993, following four years of construction work. The architect drew inspiration from the maritime world to transform the former industrial fortress into a modern, light-filled ‘ship’. Inside, an eight-storey concrete structure was built to house the documents. Initially focused on businesses, trade unions and associations in the Nord region, the collection quickly expanded to cover the whole of France. In 2007, the centre was officially renamed the ‘Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail’.

The archivist’s social responsibility

From collection to classification, via the preservation and promotion of the collections, the students follow the various stages inherent to the archivist’s profession.

First stage: the incoming documents reception area, where an astonishing dust-removal machine catches everyone’s eye. Before being transferred to the storage rooms, the items are checked, carefully cleaned and prepared to ensure their long-term preservation.

The tour continues into the archive storerooms – vast, dark, air-conditioned spaces protected from damp. All around the students are countless rows of black boxes, designed to withstand the weight of the documents without warping. The figures are staggering. “Today, the ANMT holds a total of 55 linear kilometres of archives, out of a storage capacity of 60 kilometres,” explains the archivist.

Handwritten or printed documents, photographs, posters, audio or audiovisual records… What needs to be preserved and what can be destroyed within this vast collection of documents? This is the daunting question posed to the students as they enter the sorting and filing room.
“Beyond simply dusting and filing, the archivist’s role involves a genuine process of reflection to determine what deserves to be preserved and will be of value to future generations. It is a considerable social responsibility,” emphasises Ludovic Cailluet. “Especially as the questions historians ask evolve over time; they reflect the issues facing society, such as social rights, migration, women’s place in the workplace and the environment.”

The classification and description of each document then form an essential step in facilitating the work of researchers. The tour concludes in the reading room, where anyone can freely access the archives simply by registering.

To round off their visit, the students are invited to examine a selection of documents prepared in consultation with their teacher. “In a world as digitised as ours, it is an interesting experience to be able to touch these original documents and handle them physically,” he observes.
The Motte-Bossut collection offers a glimpse into the wealth of items it contains: spools of thread, fabric and velvet colour charts, photographs of factories, children’s work books, a register of foreign workers, and various official documents, such as deeds of incorporation, changes of company name and minutes of general meetings.

The selection also includes documents from the Pechiney company and the Paris–Lyon–Mediterranean Railway Company (PLM), which was subsequently nationalised to become the SNCF. Among them is a register of employees’ personnel records (1863–1957), which bears witness not only to the working conditions of the time but also to the role of women, who were very often confined to the role of level crossing attendants.

Sharpening one’s critical thinking

“Beyond the aesthetic, unusual, amusing or moving aspects of these documents, what can they help us understand about the past?”, asks Ludovic Cailluet. This is the very purpose of this educational approach. In his course, he makes students particularly aware of the biases inherent in sources, which are never neutral or exhaustive. History is, above all, a narrative construction. Consequently, certain organisations may be tempted to rewrite the past to serve their brand. The historical method therefore requires sources to be rigorously cross-referenced and facts to be placed in their historical context.

This immersion in the heart of the archives directly prepares students for the module’s final assessment. In early December, working in teams, they will have to create an exhibition based on documents from private or public archives, or even from their own family archives. In practical terms, each team will produce a display panel on lightweight cardboard, putting at least three archival records of their choice into context and demonstrating what they reveal about the history of organisations. This work must be accompanied by a 3,000-word statement of intent based on academic articles or works by historians.

During the first edition last year, for example, students explored the evolution of the immigrant workforce in France, the history of a family-run business specialising in the manufacture of medals in Saumur, and working-class life in the coal-mining towns.
At a time when generative AI is accelerating content production, this exercise takes on a very special significance, enabling students to stimulate their creativity whilst encouraging them to think critically.