HARPPing on History is the official Substack (blog) of the Historical Archives and Preservation Project (HARP), which is an initiative led by the Organization of American Historians to ensure that U.S. history remains accessible, evidence-based, and accurate. I strongly invite all genealogists and persons interested in U.S. history to subscribe to it.

This week, professional genealogist Renée K. Carl, wrote an insightful article, “With NARA Funding Cuts, Access to America’s Memory is on the Chopping Block,” that I strongly suggest you read. NARA has been underfunded for decades. Meanwhile, the deluge of electronic and paper records continues – but the proposed budget for federal fiscal year 2026 (October 2025 to September 2026) includes a 10 percent overall cut and a staggering 33 percent cut to funding for electronic records programs. So…. what does that mean? It’s worse than you think. Funding for digital assets would plummet to 56 percent less than it was 20 YEARS ago – in fiscal year 2007. It also means that critical work needed on 250 years worth of paper records, such as preservation actions, description, preparation for digitization, and digitization, will slow to a crawl.

Did you know that a only a little over 3 percent of the 12 billion (and growing) estimated textual (paper) pages at NARA are digitized? NARA cannot do “more with less.” No one can do “more with less.” NARA can only do less with less funding.

Learn more and join the conversation in the free webinar, Fund America’s Stories–Advocacy and the National Archives, on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 3:00 ET, which will explore the vital role of the National Archives and Records Administration in preserving federal records and protecting access to America’s stories, learn about its origins, the Federal Records Act, the impact of proposed budget cuts, and how you can advocate for NARA’s future.