The most recent controversy surrounding the National Archives should not be
unexpected. Although some believe we should not recall the events surrounding
Nixon and his presidential materials, they have everything to do with how NARA
has been transformed into an essentially political (more than cultural)
executive branch agency. It's a complicated story, but one that explains how
presidential administrations see the Archives as a repository of executive
branch evidence that may have a profound influence on how history judges their
actions. As others know, the Archives has often been subject to political
pressures from the White House to serve its own interests in strenghtening the
presidential prerogatives of executive privilege. It has sometimes been caught
in the wider struggle over the separation of powers as the executive branch
battles to circumvent or nullify much of the post-Watergate legislation that
was designed to establish a more accountable and open government.

In this respect, it might be best if we were to understand how the Archives
became ensnarled in this battle between the branches and why it may not be able
to wholly establish itself as a spear carrier for transparancy. Nonetheless, so
far it would seem that Allen Weinstein is doing a commendable job of trying to
put the Archives on solid footing as an agency that operates with integrity
according to its fundamental mission. It's a difficult job and I'm not sure he
can do it completely on his own without the support of congressional backing.

Bruce Montgomery
Univ. of Colorado




Quoting Rick Barry <[log in to unmask]>:

>
>
> Richard Cox writes:
>
> I urge  all archivists to write to the Society of American Archivists to
> demand that  our professional association create an independent body to look
> into
> what is  going on in this case, as well as reconsider how NARA can be
> strengthened as  an archival agency in this era of growing government
> secrecy.
>
> The National Coalition for History has been urging much more visible
> Congressional oversight of NARA for a long time and indicates that the Allen
> Weinstein would welcome that. I think it would be in NARA's interest to
> receive  more
> such high-visibility Congressional oversight. So perhaps we should be
> voicing our interests in NARA's well being to our Congressmen and its TTHUD
> committee that we were urged to contact in support of NHPRC's  budget.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Rick
>
> Rick Barry
> _www.mybestdocs.com_ (http://www.mybestdocs.com/)
> Cofounder, Open  Reader Consortium
> _www.openreader.org_ (http://www.openreader.org/)
>
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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>