The Historical Archives, founded in Tartu in 1921 as the Central Archives of Estonia, is today a structural unit of the National Archives. In the 1990s the Historical Archives began to receive exile archives, mostly from Sweden, thanks to people’s personal contacts. The exile collections have mostly been complemented by personal archives, for example those of Vello Helki, Oleg Roslavlev, Theodor Künnapas, Mihkel Toomse, Armin Tuulse et al.
The archives also contain documents of various organizations such as the Estonian Scouts in Sweden and exile student societies such as the Estonian Female Students’ Society in exile. The records of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church in exile make up a significant addition to the other church archives traditionally peserved in the Historical Archives. All collections can be accessed via AIS (Archival Information System).