National Archives

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• SOURCE: Government Executive
  2/28/2023
  

  One Reason to Confirm National Archivist Fast? Sending Out Veterans' Benefits

  While controversies around classified materials and Trump administration records dog Colleen Shogan's nomination, she recently pledged to make a priority of granting veterans access to the records they need to claim legally entitled benefits. 

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• SOURCE: NBC News
  10/19/2022
  

  Biden, National Archives Sued for Delayed Release of JFK Assassination Records

  Although the decision to delay a Congressionally-mandated release should not be taken as proof of any assassination conspiracy theories, historians argue the documents are necessary to fully understand a tumultuous period in the nation's history. 

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• SOURCE: CBS News
  9/18/2022
  

  The National Archives' Work to Recover Stolen History

  Donald Trump wouldn't be the first person to face legal jeopardy for holding materials that belong to the national archives. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/27/2022
  

  What's Behind Trump's Defiance of the National Archives (and the Law?)

  The civil servants working to preserve and secure government records have faced threats and harassment since the National Archives brought the FBI into its efforts to get the former president to comply with the law and return public documents. 

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• SOURCE: Bloomberg
  8/20/2022
  

  Republicans Expected to Grill Biden's National Archivist Nominee in Retaliation for Mar-A-Lago Warrant

  Despite the fact that she currently leads the White House Historical Association and has no connection to the National Archives, Colleen Shogan can expect a tough nomination fight as Senate Republicans pick up Donald Trump's grudge over the enforcement of presidential records law. 

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• SOURCE: National Security Archive
  3/11/2022
  

  30-Year Flatline in NARA Budget Threatens Research, Transparency

  Chronic underfunding, combined with successive administrations' disdain for transparency, means that Freedom of Information Act requests are likely to languish for years before being fulfilled. It's long overdue to fund the National Archives for the public good. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/5/2022
  

  "He Never Stopped Ripping Things Up": Trump's Habitual Document Destruction

  Donald Trump's personal defiance of the Presidential Records Act appears to have been widespread, purposeful, and illegal. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/7/2022
  

  National Archive Had to Retrieve White House Records from Mar-a-Lago

  In an odd twist that no one could have seen coming, the Trump administration appears to have violated legal requirements for the preservation and security of presidential records. 

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  4/14/2021
  

  Trump, Defying Custom, Hasn’t Given the National Archives Records of His Speeches at Political Rallies

  by Shannon Bow O'Brien

  "Until President Trump, there have been no missing public speeches in the permanent collection. By removing these speeches, Trump is creating a false perception of his presidency, making it look more serious and traditional."

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  11/16/2020
  

  Will Trump Burn the Evidence?

  by Jill Lepore

  Reckoning with the Trump adminstration's actions and assigning moral or criminal sanction to any misdeeds will probably be compromised by the destruction or failure to maintain presidential records. 

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• SOURCE: NY Times
  2/4/20
  

  Why You May Never Learn the Truth About ICE

  by Matthew Connelly

  The National Archives is letting millions of documents, including many related to immigrants’ rights, be destroyed or deleted.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/31/20
  

  It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.

  The library’s decision is the second-known instance of a federal government institution acting to prevent images it determined to be critical of Trump from being shown to the public. 

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• SOURCE: ArtNet
  1/24/20
  

  How the National Archives’ Notorious Alteration of a Women’s March Photo Is Part of a Long American Tradition

  by Jennifer Tucker & Peter Rutland

  Two professors explain how the image fits into the history of a country that has long sought to avoid discomfort.

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• SOURCE: ArtNet
  1/24/20
  

  How the National Archives’ Notorious Alteration of a Women’s March Photo Is Part of a Long American Tradition

  by Jennifer Tucker & Peter Rutland

  Two professors explain how the image fits into the history of a country that has long sought to avoid discomfort.

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• SOURCE: AHA
  1/19/20
  

  AHA Sends Letter to NARA Archivist about Altered Women's March Photo

  The AHA sent the following letter to the Archivist of the United States objecting to the alteration of a photograph on exhibition and praising NARA staff for acknowledging this serious lapse in judgement.

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• SOURCE: CNN
  1/20/20
  

  The National Archives' dangerous corruption of history

  by David Perry

  While the National Archives issued an apology and vowed to undergo "a thorough review" of its policies after the Washington Post first reported on the alteration, having discovered it by chance, as a historian I worry about how many other altered documents the Trump administration has buried in our records. Will we ever know?

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/18/20
  

  National Archives says it was wrong to alter images

  “This photo is not an archival record held by the @usnatarchives, but one we licensed to use as a promotional graphic,” it said in another tweet. “Nonetheless, we were wrong to alter the image.”

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/17/20
  

  National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump

  A placard that proclaims “God Hates Trump” has “Trump” blotted out so that it reads “God Hates.” A sign that reads “Trump & GOP — Hands Off Women” has the word Trump blurred out.

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• SOURCE: The National Archives AOTUS Blog
  11/18/19
  

  Making Access Happen: NARA’s Leadership in the Digital Decade

  by David Ferriero

  Ferriero discusses how the National Archives has advanced their digital access for their records through collaboration, innovation, and learning.

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• SOURCE: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  5/31/2019
  

  National Archives to host retrospective on African Americans in U.S.

  A retrospective on the black odyssey in America is scheduled for later this month at the National Archives at Atlanta.