On October 29, The Wall Street Journal reported that AOTUS Dr. Colleen Shogan and her top advisors at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have recently sought to erase, obscure, and minimize parts of US history. Additional issues have been raised outside the purview of the article that raise questions about NARA fulfilling its mission. Many SAA members have expressed concern over this, and Council shares those concerns.
During the November 18–20 Council Meeting held in Chicago and online, this topic received vigorous discussion as Council members shared various perspectives and conferred on how to best address the assertions made in the article. Council has since determined several actions it is taking moving forward:
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A statement from SAA is forthcoming, aiming to affirm that the role of government archives is to act as non-partisan entities that steward the essential evidence of our democracy. The role of government archivists is to preserve and share that history without partisan influence. This includes history that highlights the diverse stories of our country, as bringing these stories to light is part of the effort of archives to show a truer picture of the past.
Council encourages members to engage with your groups in discussing this issue, and to elevate major topics to your Council liaisons for further consideration as Council works on this issue, as well as others that may arise in future.
Finally, Council would like to remind members of the Advocacy Toolkit as a resource. Advocating for archives and records professionals is and always will be at the center of SAA's mission, and we are grateful to every one of our members who continues to do that work.
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SAA Headquarters
Society of American Archivists
Chicago IL
saahq@archivists.org------------------------------