“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: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591576467894 or contact championeerheritagecomm@gmail.com if you are not on Facebook.

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. Elimination of evening and Saturday hours. 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.