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NARA in the News…. and What You Can Do

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The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been in the news quite a bit lately.

Support for “Save Our National Archives” – San Bruno and Chicago Regions

On 24 August 2026, Representative Kevin Mullin held a press conference about NARA’s proposed closure of its San Bruno, California, facility. In addition, 37 Members of Congress, including several from the Midwest, signed a joint letter to NARA about their concerns that closure of the facility would result in an undue burden (restriction) to public access to the records, potentially result in loss of dedicated knowledgeable public servants who have provided reference services on these records, and risk damage or even destruction to the records. Meanwhile, in an undated 2026 post entitled “Researcher Updates” NARA outlined where it plans to move records from the San Bruno and Chicago Regional Archives.

What can you do? Email (or better yet, write and call) your Congressman and Senators about your opposition to NARA closing public research facilities at San Bruno and Chicago. Find information and talking points here: https://www.saveournationalarchives.org/take-action.

Confirmation of Bradford P. Wilson as 12th Archivist of the United States

On 7 August 2026, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Bradford P. Wilson to be the 12th Archivist of the United States (AOTUS). On 21 August 2026, AOTUS Wilson sent the following message to NARA employees:

Greetings to all. As you may have heard, I was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and am now sworn in as the 12th Archivist of the United States. Though I am not a stranger to Senate-confirmed positions, I am especially honored and humbled by this appointment. As with the institutions and programs I have been fortunate to lead, I shall be laser-focused on serving the governing mission of NARA. Put simply, NARA’s mission is to serve the American people as our nation’s record keepers. The great historian, David McCullough, referred to the collected records of the National Archives as “one of the wonders of our country, the richest, most enthralling documentation we have as a nation of who we are, what we have achieved, our adventures, and what we stand for.” As such, it is imperative that those records be made available to the American people, to whom they belong. Acquisition, preservation, and organization of our nation’s records, so as to provide access to the American public, researchers, and our government, are the heart of NARA’s activities.

And your talents, experience, expertise, and commitment to your craft are the reason that Americans continue to have affection for the place of the National Archives in American government and culture. I know that our agency is beset with great challenges in achieving its goals. That should only add to our sense of common purpose and inspire us to do our very best, together, to meet those challenges.

I’ll spare you my thoughts on leadership, which I’ll daily attempt to illustrate by my actions. I’d rather begin by learning about the work you do and its relation to the statutory mission of NARA, which by law we must take as our guide. I look forward to working with you to move NARA to a new level of excellence.

Sincerely,
Bradford Wilson

It’s a reasonable sounding statement of support for preservation and access to federal records, but, as the saying goes, the proof will be in the pudding. The statutory missions of agencies are never spelled out in granular detail in Acts of Congress. See, for example, the National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-497). Additional guidance is given by federal laws applicable to all or most federal agencies as well as duly promulgated federal regulations, such as those for NARA, or applicable to all or most federal agencies. What is the concept for moving NARA to “a new level of excellence”?

What can you do? Pay attention to NARA press releases and social media posts from reputable sources, such as APG (https://www.facebook.com/AssociationofProfessionalGenealogists), NGS (https://www.facebook.com/ngsgenealogy), and others. 

NARA Proposal to Destroy Federal Civilian Official Personnel Files after 65 Years

On 10 July 2026, NARA posted a proposed change in the retention period for federal civilian employee Official Personnel Folders (OPFs) – posted on Regulations.gov as DAA-GRS-2026-0001 General Records Schedules National Archives and Records Administration General Records Schedule 2-2 – Employee Management Records Revision) (https://www.regulations.gov/document/NARA-26-0331-0008). Unfortunately, the public comment period ended 24 August 2026.

Federal civilian Official Personnel Folders (OPFs) can contain valuable genealogical information about a person’s government employment. Today, many OPFs for employees who left federal service before 1952 are archived at NARA. Later files generally remain under OPM control and are much harder to access. The 1952 cutoff was created for administrative purposes, not because the records on either side of that date have different historical value.

In 2025, NARA proposed making OPFs for employees separated through 31 December 1973 permanent records, but this schedule has apparently not yet been approved. The National Genealogical Society and the Records Preservation and Access Coalition (RPAC) support that proposal and call on NARA to sign that record schedule. RPAC seeks to:

• Preserve pre-1974 OPFs permanently.

• Make all employment years consistent with pre-1974 policy.

• Replace the arbitrary 1952 access cutoff with a rolling transfer of older civilian personnel files to NARA.

This is simple: federal civilian personnel files should become more accessible as they age—not disappear.

What can you do? Although the public comment period is over, the fight to preserve these records will not end. Email (or better yet, write and call) your Congressman and Senators about your opposition to NARA destroying federal civilian Official Personnel Files. Tell Congress that OPFs dated after 1952 have as much historical value as earlier dated records. Tell Congress why these records are meaningful to you. 

“Save Our National Archives” (SONA) Steps Up in Response to NARA’s Announcement of Plans to Close Two Regional Research Facilities: The National Archives at Chicago and the National Archives at San Francisco (San Bruno)

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Updated 7 July 2026

“Save Our National Archives” (SONA) Steps Up!

Genealogists and other researchers have banded together to “Save Our National Archives” (SONA). For information on how you can help this effort, please see “Save OUR National Archives” at https://www.saveournationalarchives.org/.

NARA Announcement on Forthcoming Closure of Chicago and San Bruno Regional Archives

On 23 June 2026, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) issued “NARA Notice 2026-037: Closure of NARA Facilities” to all employees. This Notice stated in part:

“Over the next few years, NARA will close the National Archives at Chicago/Chicago Federal Records Center (FRC), National Archives at San Francisco/San Bruno FRC, and move all temporary records from the Seattle Federal Records Center.

Research Services will relocate the accessioned records in archival bays at the National Archives at Chicago and San Bruno to other Research Services archival locations. Archival and permanent holdings in Seattle will remain until a suitable replacement facility is identified. The Federal Records Centers Program will relocate the temporary records at the Chicago FRC, San Bruno FRC, and the Seattle FRC to other FRC locations. We expect the moves to begin within the next few months.

This decision is an opportunity for NARA to maintain our core mission and functions while improving efficiency and effectiveness. These facility changes support the long-term financial health and viability of the Federal Records Centers Program’s revolving fund, reduce expenses for the Operating Expense (OE) fund, and reduce our real estate portfolio in alignment with the administration’s priorities. We will move forward with care for our colleagues, our records, and our programs in a way that strengthens our agency for the work to come.”

Difference between a Regional Archives and a Federal Records Center

There’s a lot to unpack in those paragraphs. The National Archives at Chicago, the National Archives at San Francisco, and the National Archives at Seattle are all research facilities open to the public. They contain accessioned archival records created by Federal agencies in the states served by those facilities. Therefore:

  • NARA at Chicago contains accessioned archival records created by Federal agency offices in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
  • NARA at San Francisco (San Bruno) contains accessioned archival records created by Federal agency offices in California (north and central), Nevada (except Clark County), Hawaii, U.S. Navy bases on foreign territory in the Pacific and Far East, American Samoa, Guam, and the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
  • NARA at Seattle contains accessioned records created by Federal agency offices in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (state).

These research facilities are currently co-located with Federal Records Centers (FRCs). FRCs are large warehouses that contain Federal records that are either temporary (because they lack permanent value) or permanent records that have not yet been transferred to the legal custody of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on how records are determined to be temporary or permanent, please read “Appraisal Policy of the National Archives” at https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/scheduling/appraisal.

The Federal government is transitioning from paper-based records to electronic records, so the need for Federal Records Centers (FRCs) is declining and will continue to decline. It’s hard to think about what a large warehouse looks like on the inside – and it’s not quite accurate – but think of the scene in the entirely fictional movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, where the box with the Ark of the Covenant is being pushed into a giant government warehouse. With fewer records being created on paper, the need for such large warehouses is diminishing.

Although co-location of Regional Archives (for the public) and FRCs (warehouses for federal agencies) has been traditional, it doesn’t have to be that way. Some Regional Archives have existed in facilities separate from an FRC, such as the former New York City Regional Archives.

NARA Regional Archives Program Brief History

NARA’s Regional Archives Program has a very long history – and I am indebted to NARA retirees for the following information.

The Regional Archives were created to ensure that records created by Federal agency offices across the country stayed in the general region in which they were created. In other words, Regional Archives (research facilities) were established to help ensure the public had access to Federal records created in their region.

The Regional Archives Program – based on a suggestion in the 1941 Seventh Annual Report of the Archivist – was formally created in early 1969. It grew slowly in the early 1970s, then faster after “Roots” and the 1976 Bicentennial celebration.

About 1981, the entire National Archives and Records Service (NARS) (as it was then known) suffered greatly due to the budget cutting fervor of that time. Budget cuts of around 17% (which is lot) were inflicted upon NARS, including its regional archives.

Due to the catastrophic budget cuts, the genealogical and historical research communities and other interested groups lobbied Congress to make the National Archives an independent federal agency – instead of being a mere subunit of the General Services Administration. The National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1984 reestablished NARA as an independent federal agency effective 1 April 1985. The Regional Archives program became reinvigorated after NARA became independent and program grew again until about 1992, with some branches moving out of Federal Records Centers into downtown locations or facilities shared with other archives. The program remained fairly stable into the beginning of the 21st century before going into decline.

During the late 1980s there were hundreds of volunteers, extended weeknight and Saturday research hours, and aggressive outreach programs that were aimed at building a national constituency for NARA and were mentioned in a 1988 report and late 1980s NARA annual reports. A slogan of the time was “A national resource in a local setting.” In the years running up to the opening of the 1930 census, a contingent of volunteers at the Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Regional Archives (since closed) provided significant service to the genealogical community by compiling descriptions of the 1930 census enumeration districts that NARA made available on its website for about 10 years. Although volunteers cannot substitute for trained, experienced, and expert staff, it is fair to say that volunteer contributions to indexing projects at other NARA Regional Archives have also benefitted staff and the research community, including genealogists.

Unfortunately, further declines in NARA’s Regional Archives program occurred. Evening and Saturday hours were eliminated. Outreach to the public was reduced significantly or eliminated entirely. Closings of Regional Archives began: Pittsfield (2011), Anchorage (2014), New York (2024), and now planned closing of Chicago and San Bruno. Seattle was planned to be closed in 2020 but public backlash halted those plans. NARA’s Southern California facility at Laguna Niguel, California, was moved to Perris, California (Riverside County) in 2005.

Historical note: Over the years, NARA (and NARS) flip-flopped on the “name” of regional research facilities that are open to the public, variously calling them Regional Archives, Field Archives, Field Branches, National Archives at [name of city], and probably some other variants.

Are You Looking for a Woman Who Lost Her U.S. Citizenship?

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Staff members at the National Archives at Chicago are tagging various records series in Record Group 21, Records of District Courts of the United States, to make them more accessible to a wider audience.

One of these series is the U.S. District Court, Detroit, Repatriation Records, 1918-1970 (National Archives Identifier 1150838). Between 1907 and 1922, women lost their U.S. citizenship if they married a foreign national. Later, many women wished to regain their U.S. citizenship. Depending upon when they applied, the women were required to file either a Petition for Naturalization or take the Oath of Allegiance. This series primarily includes the latter document. The records consist of eight legal-size archives boxes, and each box contains approximately 700 repatriations. To date, NARA staff has created over 23,000 tags for the series.

For more information about women and naturalization laws, see the excellent two-part article by Marian L. Smith, “‘Any Woman Who is Now or May Hereafter Be Married…’ Women and Naturalization, ca. 1802-1940,” Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, Vol. 30, Nos. 2-3 (1998). Here are links to Part 1 and Part 2.