Posted on 22 January 2024 by Leif Jacobsson

This year marks the 40th anniversary of TAM’s founding! It’s been a long journey – congratulations! Below we can see the first page of the minutes with the original statutes, from October 1984.

From the minutes we can read that it is a proposal for rules of procedure that was adopted at the inaugural meeting of the White-Collar Movement’s Archives and Museum, SFL’s boardroom, Cardellgatan 1, on October 2, 1984 at 13.00 on the day. It is also clear (written in ink pen on the front) that it was Inge Granqvist – SIF’s chairman – who chaired the meeting. The name of the future manager – Thord Wallén – is also mentioned at the top of the document. So what was the purpose of starting TAM? The first paragraph states:

”The purpose of the Association of the White-Collar Workers’ Movement’s Archives and Museum is to list, collect and preserve records and other documents from an archival point of view from the Swedish white-collar workers’ movement, literature and other material on the history and development of the white-collar workers’ movement, as well as objects used in various white-collar professions and tasks.

The association shall strive to make it easier for organizations, researchers and students to access the material of the archive and the museum.”

In the next paragraph, it is also stated that the future institution is a non-profit association that is not to be run for profit.

The minutes are then reviewed methodically for TAM’s future rules of procedure. The budget is presented at the very end.

In 1984, it was originally the white-collar workers’ movement that formed the archival institution TAM.  TCO’s archive at the time, housed at Bergendal, 20 km north of Stockholm, had become increasingly problematic over time. The archive premises had started to get too small. The work environment was also not satisfactory and the work could therefore not be conducted in an appropriate way.

On the basis of this, the TCO Board decided in March 1984 to commission a working group to investigate how the archive activities could be developed. During the course of the work, the group’s remit was broadened to present a proposal for a merger of the archive in Bergendal and a small office museum that the Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry (SIF) had established in 1970. Their proposal was that the new institution should be called Tjänstemännens arkiv och museum (TAM). The proposal was positively received when it was discussed by the TCO Board in 1984. TAM’s inaugural meeting was held almost 40 years ago – in October 1984. On 1 January 1985, TAM started its regular operations.

A lot has happened since then. Saco and its member organizations have become members and the museum section (the M in TAM) has long since been closed down. Only a few objects are still on display. Various employees have come and gone… But TAM-Arkiv, as it is now called, is still an institution that works to disseminate knowledge about the history of the trade unions and their member groups. And TAM’s member groups have become more important with time. More and more people define themselves as ”middle class” – a term that can include white-collar workers and academics. In the future, more people should visit TAM-Arkiv. Many research questions are still waiting to be answered. There is a potential for a glorious future! Congratulations TAM-Arkiv on this year’s 40th anniversary!!!