Late last week, the SIA board voted to sign on to a letter to federal elected officials opposing the closure of National Archives facilities in Chicago and San Francisco. Earlier this summer, Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) released a detailed statement on these closures. Here is an excerpt below:

“[T]he National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced plans to close several of its locations in the coming years, including the National Archives at Chicago and the Chicago Federal Records             enter, along with offices in San Bruno, CA and Seattle, WA. The transfer of records between locations is anticipated to begin within the next few months, according to an email to NARA staff.

The National Archives at Chicago currently houses more than 140,000 cubic feet of records alone. Those records relate to six states that are also represented within MAC: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The National Archives at Chicago preserves and provides access to records of the Federal Courts and over 80 federal agencies including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Coast Guard. Without doubt, these are significant holdings of immeasurable value. 

Once marketed as “a national resource in a local setting,” the regional archives system was designed in part to provide public access to historically significant records of the federal government in local settings throughout the country. This planned closure will have the opposite effect, moving records further from their principal users: those seeking their own naturalization records to prove citizenship status, those who need records of court cases in which they were involved, descendants of indigenous people who attended government boarding schools, and veterans looking for information about vessels they served on in the Great Lakes, to name a few.”

As archivists, one of our core missions is providing access to records of enduring historical value. Closing regional archives will vastly hinder access to government records that are critical to understanding government operations, action, and decision making in our states. The SIA board vote was unanimous to support this letter in opposition of these closures.