National Archives and Records Administration
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.
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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.
Alliance with Google
On February 24, 2006, NARA released a
press release announcing a joint venture with
Google to digitize and offer NARA video online for free.
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 houses 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. 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. There are no lines 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The National Archives Building also exhibits other important American historical documents such as the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 at
College Park, Maryland, where it is now based. 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.
2006 Controversy over Reclassification
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.[
2]
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National Security Archive*
1973 National Archives Fire*
NARA official site*
NARA on Google Video
