National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

[Deering, Brian R.]

Yesterday, I visited NARA in Washington, DC. The building is a block east on Pennsylvania Ave from where I work. My intent was to assess the level of effort required to locate and retrieve the records which we seek.

 

The NARA folks are gracious and seemed very excited about someone wanting to view records. They even have evening and Saturday hours once a month. They even have a free, space available, shuttle that travels between DC and College Park. It's like they're not really a federal agency.

 

The records we seek are housed at the National Archives building in College Park, MD. I was all set to drive there today but when I went looking for exact directions I realized their next Saturday hours are during the week of July 16. I've already calendared that activity.

 

NARA has information on their web site about the availability of grants for a variety of purposes relating to historical records. I have no granting experience, however, I wandered around and found one possibility that might be of interest. More can be found about this opportunity at http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/publishing.html. The preamble indicates "[t]he National Historical Publications and Records Commission supports projects that promote the preservation and use of America's documentary heritage essential to understanding our democracy, history, and culture." If we decide to expand this effort or to continue working on the project after the 40th anniversary this might be a consideration.

 

Hope you both have a great weekend and a great 4th.