Liuben Traikov's collection of archival materials

Photographs and documents from L. Traikov' s collection.

Extent: 4 photographs; 1 labour booklet; 1 letter.

Condition of original material: Two of the photographs are photographied again in order to be preserved.

Custodial history: The photos and documents are part of the personal archive of L. Traikov, one of the pastors of the Gypsy Baptist Church.

Author(s)/Creator(s): Unknown authors.

Arrangement: The photos and documents have been stored in the owner's home in a paper box. They were arranged as found.

A note about terminology: Some of the material in this collection relates to Цигани [Tsigani / Gypsy] communities. Since 1989, these communities are often referred to using the term ‘Roma’. However, not all members of these communities accept the term Roma or identify as Roma. In Bulgaria, this is a heterogeneous community that comprises different groups with different ethnic identification (Romani, Bulgarian, Turkish or Rumanian), mother tongue, way of life, religion, and occupation. Moreover, the original material in this collection pre-dates 1989, when the term ‘Roma’ was unknown in Bulgaria. For these reasons, the term ‘Gypsies’ is used to describe these communities in the catalogue rather than ‘Roma’ because this more accurately depicts the identification of the communities recorded in this collection at the time the documents and photographs were created. The Protestant missionaries who worked among this population and whose results are related to the material in the collection, also used the term 'Gypsies'.