An update from our friends working to save the National Archives in Chicago!
In addition to the National Archives in San Francisco update we sent yesterday, here is an update from our friends in Chicago. We are staying in touch, sharing ideas, and working together as well as we can!
To Take Action go to https://www.chicagoarchivists.org/NARAClosuresAction
Leading the charge against the closure of the National Archives – Chicago by the National Archives and Records Administration is the Chicago Area Archivists (CAA), whose representative, Hilarie Pitman Pozesky, shared this information with SONA.
- More than 4,800 people have signed the Change.org petition to stop the Chicago NARA closure.
- “We've made inroads with our local congressional representatives U.S. Senators Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García and U.S. Rep. Daniel Davis, to name a few.”
- As of August 19, Sen. Duckworth, Rep. Garcia and Rep. Quigley have signed on to a Delegation Letter along with 33 other U.S. Senators and Members of Congress, raising concerns about NARA’s closure plans for Chicago and San Francisco.
- On August 20, a legislative bill, the National Archives Protection Act, was introduced. It is co-authored by Reps. Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Judy Chu (CA-28), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (IL-4) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07).
- “We've focused on reaching out to the public by speaking to the press and to various local stakeholders to raise awareness about the closure and our fear that this information will become spread out and stored away that it will become inaccessible.
- “We've hosted multiple phone bank training and events to inform public officials, including state and national politicians, NARA leadership, the Illinois Secretary of State's office and the state Attorney General and to request their assistance in calling for transparency about the plan and justification for these closures.”
- Archivists, historians and researchers across the entire Great Lakes region have joined the cause – national historian organizations, professional genealogist organizations, local archives collectives and issued statements about how much they need these historical records to stay in Chicago and keep this documentation and history as accessible as possible.
- “We continue to explore all of our options, including more regional connections and publicity, along with investigating NARA's regional responsibilities.”
To further engage with the Great Lakes Regional effort, please visit our TAKE ACTION page to participate in our next steps of getting these closures stopped.
Onward!
For more information contact CAA at info@chicagoarchivists.org.