7/7/2010 Historians and Gettysburg Casino

In June, many individual historians as well as the National Council on Public History and the Organization of American Historians wrote to the Pennsylvania Gaming Board to express opposition to a Casino requested for one-half mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park.  Gettysburg was the site of a critical Civil War battle as well as a famous speech given by President Abraham Lincoln in which he invoked the values of the Declaration of Independence and reminded Americans that the men who died there died in order to preserve a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”  It remains to be seen how the Board will vote, but the proposal has evoked a great cry among preservationists, community members, and historians alike.

6/17/10: History News

In the news this month are stories that demonstrate just how important good archival management and record keeping is to the successful functioning of our government.

As part of the process of holding hearings on Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan, the William Clinton Presidential Library opened approximately 46,500 pages of files relating to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s tenure at the White House Domestic Policy Council. The additional release of papers from the approximately 160,000 pages of material will be made available on the Clinton Library website in batches as soon as the records are processed.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives is holding hearings throughout the month of June on the programs and activities of the National Archives and Records Administration, with the goal being to strengthen the Historical Publications and Records Commission.  Part of the hearings will include a review of federal agency records management compliance with the Federal Records Act.

6/2/2010: Why Can’t I Find That on the Internet?

In the year 2010, people often think that there is little they can’t find on the Internet or through various electronic databases.  In fact, there is so much information available today that often the problem is not how to find it, but how to limit it.  With regard to litigation, most paralegals can come up with a specific historical document if their attorney tells them specifically what they need and if it is available at a County Courthouse or another local source.

But unlike legal research, thorough and professional archival research is the skill of trained historians.  Often, the documents they uncover can mean the difference between winning or losing a case.  When it comes to litigating an access case or any other type of environmental dispute, there are often hundreds of documents out there that are extremely useful for proving your case, but which are only available through archival research.

Electronic resources will never catch up with the volume of historical documentation from America’s 230-year history.  There is, quite simply, too much.  Even if every document ever archived was scanned and available from the convenience of a computer screen, the very nature of archival research simply does not lend itself to being conducted in this way.  Therefore, the deployment of a professional historian to help you discover these documents can provide an efficient means of uncovering these materials.

Archival facilities come in all shapes and sizes.  The National Archives are the largest in the United States and house the federal government’s massive collection of records.  The National Archives maintains numerous branches across the county, with holdings that date back to the colonial era.  The various branches of the National Archives contain holdings relevant to their specific region.  Branches include:

While the National Archives has tried to maintain some consistency with regard to agency record organization, each record group (as a set of agency holdings is called) is unique.  For instance, in contrast to the organization of the Fish and Wildlife Service records (Record Group 22), the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation records (Record Group 115) are almost entirely housed at the regional branch in Denver.  Presumably, the logic is that since the Bureau operates entirely in the western states, researchers interested in this agency would also be located in the West.

Regardless of the record group in question, historians are trained to navigate the maze of records.  Although expert researchers can navigate through most any archival facility or manuscript collection, they often develop expertise in various record groups based on their academic interests or their clients’ needs.

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