Archives Found

On the front page of today’s Dallas Morning News, the discussion continues over whether documents from the Dallas DA’s office that relate to the Kennedy assassination in 1963 will head to the National Archives in Washington D.C. (where the Warren Commission materials and the other assassination-related documents are held), or whether they will be donated to the Sixth Floor Museum in the former Texas School Book Depository building.
I can understand the desire for Dallas residents to keep as much of the local history and information about the assassination in Dallas as possible. Furthermore, NARA has not yet examined the documents to appraise whether or not they would fall within their collecting scope; ie. whether there is information of historical or evidentiary value that belongs with the other related collections. It’s possible that NARA might pass on this particular collection, anyway. But I think that there are a few more questions to be raised, particularly:

-to whom do these documents currently belong? The creator of the documents (DA in 1963)? The Dallas DA’s office? who has the authority to donate records that belong to the city of Dallas?

-what is the provenance of these records, and why are they just coming to light now? is the collection complete, or has it been ravaged/damaged by souvenir hunters or others?

-what does the collection cover? how much related information is contained, and how much of it is unique versus copies of documents held elsewhere? how much was originated in the DA’s office?

One of my other concerns was also shared by a federal judge by letter to the potential donor and quoted in the article, namely the conditions and continued existence of the Sixth Floor Museum.

The National Archives’ JFK collection “is a treasure trove of information, preserved under ideal conditions and accessible to the public,” Judge Tunheim wrote in a Feb. 22 letter to Mr. Watkins.

He also argued against giving the documents to The Sixth Floor Museum. “I have always been concerned that it may not be a proper archival facility, particularly for documents, and may not continue into perpetuity,” the judge wrote.

From my own visit to the Sixth Floor Museum and a subsequent visit to their website, I noted that many (if not most) of their materials appear to be copies of material held elsewhere or widely available, with the exception of their oral history collection. Without having been there in a research capacity, I obviously cannot comment on the storage of their materials, but I hope that the potential donor/s have been able to view and understand the conditions under which they will be cared for, available for use, and handled. The expectations under which materials are given should be understood by both donor and institution before anything else happens.

Full article here: Dallas DA says unearthed JFK documents will likely be given to Sixth Floor

An article in the LA Times this morning stunned me: Reagan Library unable to fully account for 80,000 artifacts. I’m interested in finding out more about this, because I’m wondering about the status of the Reagan Papers. I think that the museum/artifacts staff and area is separated from the artifacts and donated items, but it obviously raises a lot of questions about security, access, and proper recordkeeping procedures. Talk about terrible publicity– and right before their C-Span broadcast, too. I wonder if any of the allegations will be addressed during their live broadcast tomorrow night? Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch, as I’ll be traveling, but I’ll definitely look forward to catching it online later. I really hope that C-Span decides to rerun the episodes before the elections next year, and potentially at a better time/day of the week.

NARA announced yesterday that they are opening approximately six million veterans records at NPRC. This is exciting news for veterans, genealogists, and historians. The original records can be viewed at the NPRC reading room in St. Louis. Honestly, understanding which military records reside in various NARA (and other) facilities is somewhat confusing, but there’s a handy grid here that helps to clarify which records are available at NPRC. This batch of OMPFs (Official Military Personnel Files) corresponds with individuals who served in the Army, Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard and left the service (discharged, retired, died) prior to 1946. However, additional records are also available at NPRC. Note: the DD 214s (OMPFs) will not be available online, and will require authorization from veterans or kin for third-party release. More information available through NARA.