The National Archives building Constitution Avenue facade.
The 'United States National Archives and Records Administration ' ('NARA') is an
independent agency of the
United States federal government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records. It is also charged with increasing public access to those documents. NARA is officially responsible for publishing acts of
Congress, presidential
proclamations and
executive orders, and federal regulations. The agency often works closely with scholars to facilitate their studies.
History
Interior of the National Archives
Originally, each branch and agency of the U.S. government was responsible for maintaining its own documents, which often resulted in the loss and destruction of records.
Congress established the National Archives Establishment in 1934 to centralize federal record keeping, with the
Archivist of the United States as its chief administrator. The National Archives was incorporated into the
General Services Administration in 1949, but, in 1985, it was made an independent agency as NARA.
Most of the documents in the care of NARA are in the
public domain, as works of the federal government are excluded from
copyright protection. However, some documents that have come into the care of NARA from other sources may still be protected by copyright or donor agreements.
[1] NARA also stores
classified documents and its
Information Security Oversight Office monitors and sets policy for the U.S. government's security classification system.
NARA's holdings are classified into "record groups" reflecting the governmental department or agency from which they originated. The records including paper records, microfilmed records, still pictures, motion pictures, and electronic media.
Many of NARA's most requested records are frequently used for research in
genealogy. This includes
census records from 1790 to 1930 as well as ship
passenger lists and
naturalization records.
Facilities and exhibition
National Archives Building
The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, located north of the
National Mall on
Constitution Avenue in
Washington, DC, opened as its original headquarters in 1935. It holds the original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the
Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution, and the
Bill of Rights, as well as a
Magna Carta confirmed by Edward I in
1297 that is presented courtesy of the
Perot Foundation. These are displayed to the public in the main chamber of the National Archives, which is called the ''
Rotunda for the
Charters of Freedom.'' Flash photography of the documents is prohibited, because the flashes can over time fade out the documents. There are no lines to see individual documents (although there is a line to reach the rotunda itself) at the National Archives, and visitors are allowed to walk from document to document as they wish.
The National Archives Building also exhibits other important American historical documents such as the
Louisiana Purchase and the
Emancipation Proclamation, as well as collections of
photography and other historically and culturally significant American artifacts.
National Archives at College Park
Due to space constraints, NARA opened a second facility, known informally as Archives II, in 1994 on the
University of Maryland, College Park campus. The two institutions engage in multiple initiatives.
[2]
Regional facilities
There are also twelve (12) Regional Archives facilities across the country and two major facilities in
St. Louis, Missouri which comprise the
National Personnel Records Center. However, the National Archives Building in downtown Washington still contains such record collections as all existing Federal Census records, Ship Passenger Lists, military unit records from the
American Revolution up to the
Philippine-American War, records of the Confederate Government, the Freedmen's Bureau records and pension/land records.
Presidential Libraries
NARA also maintains the
Presidential Library system, a nationwide network of libraries for preserving and making available the documents of
U.S. presidents since
Herbert Hoover. The Presidential Libraries include:
★
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in
West Branch, Iowa
★
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in
Hyde Park, New York
★
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in
Independence, Missouri
★
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in
Abilene, Kansas
★
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in
Boston, Massachusetts
★
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in
Austin, Texas
★
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in
Yorba Linda, California
★
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
★
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in
Atlanta, Georgia
★
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in
Simi Valley, California
★
George Bush Presidential Library in
College Station, Texas
★
William J. Clinton Presidential Library in
Little Rock, Arkansas.
The National Archives maintains a Nixon Presidential Materials Project at its Archives II facility in College Park, Maryland. The "Nixon Project" is currently (2007) transferring all of their materials to the newly-opened Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, California.
2006 Controversy over Reclassification
Main articles: U.S. reclassification program
In March 2006, it was revealed by the Archivist of the United States in a public hearing that a memorandum of understanding between NARA and various government agencies existed to "reclassify", i.e withdraw from public access, certain documents in the name of national security, and to do so in a manner such that researchers would not be likely to discover the process.
[3]
Alliance with Google
On
24 February,
2006, NARA released a
press release announcing a joint venture with
Google to digitize and offer NARA video online for free.
Other Partnerships
On
10 January,
2007, the National Archives and
Footnote launched a project to digitize historic documents and provide them online, read the
press release.
On
30 July 2007, the National Archives announced it would make thousands of historical films available for purchase through
Amazon.com subsidiary
CreateSpace (formerly CustomFlix), which specializes in on-demand distribution of DVDs, CDs and books.
[4]
Archivist of the United States
The
Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The first Archivist,
R.D.W. Connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archive was established by
Congress. The Archivists served as subordinate officials in other government agencies until the National Archives and Records Administration became an independent agency on
April 1 1985.
See also
★
1973 National Archives Fire
★
Digital preservation
★
Library of Congress Digital Library project
★
National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program
★
National Security Archive
★
White House Millennium Council (time capsule)
References
1. archives.org - privacy and use
2. archives.org - IT conference sponsors
3. gwu.edu (2006-04-11)
4. Thousands of National Archives Films to Be Made Available Through CustomFlix Labs
External links
★
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Official Site
★
The Library of Congress, Digital Collections and Programs
★
The Library of Congress, Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program
★
Outdoor sculpture at the National Archives building
★
NARA on Footnote.com
★
NARA on Google Video
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
