 |
| "American Flag" by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Altered: cropped |
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced plans to close its Chicago facility and the Chicago Federal Records Center at 7358 S. Pulaski Road, alongside offices in San Bruno, CA, and Seattle, WA.
NARA claims this closure is a cost-cutting measure to reduce operating expenses and its real estate portfolio. However, they have provided no archival rationale, no plan for how public access will be maintained, and no consideration for the heavy toll this move takes on the public and NARA staff.
We need to act now. Demand that NARA and our elected officials halt this closure, reject the disinvestment of our cultural institutions, and protect public access to our history—especially as we approach the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Why This Matters
- Irreplaceable Public Records: The Chicago facility houses more than 140,000 cubic feet of historically significant federal records spanning six Great Lakes states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. These include Bureau of Indian Affairs records, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Great Lakes maritime records, naturalization files, and the Trial of the Chicago 7 transcripts.
- Deep Connections to Local History: These archives directly complement regional repositories. For example, the facility holds dozens of federal court cases related to the Pullman Strike of 1894 (connecting to the Illinois Labor History Archives and Pullman National Historical Site); Bureau of Indian Affairs records detailing relationships with Indigenous communities (supplementing the Newberry Library and American Indian Center); and maritime records tracking ship movements and major events, including the 1919 murder of Eugene Williams in Lake Michigan that sparked the Chicago Race Riot.
- Most Records Are Not Online: Only a tiny fraction of these archives are digitized. NARA’s online portal is notoriously unreliable. If this facility closes, records will be packed onto pallets and shipped out of the region, forcing future researchers to travel cross-country or forgo these vital sources altogether.
- Loss of Vital, Lifeline Services: Everyday citizens rely on this facility to access naturalization papers to prove citizenship status, locate federal court records, research family genealogy, track military service history, and trace ancestors who attended government Indigenous boarding schools.
- Erasure of Expertise and Job Losses: The closure eliminates the livelihoods of 17 dedicated local staff members, including 11 union workers represented by AFGE Council 260. These professionals have spent careers developing deep institutional knowledge of regional history and uncatalogued collections. This expertise cannot be packed into a box and shipped away; once these professionals are displaced, that knowledge is lost forever.
Take Action Now
1. Contact Your Congressional Representatives
Call or write to your U.S. Senators and Representatives. Demand that they intervene to halt the closure and push for robust federal funding to keep regional archives open and fully staffed.
- Find your representative: www.house.gov/representatives
- Find your senators: www.senate.gov/senators
2. Message NARA Leadership
Tell NARA leadership that closing regional facilities directly undermines their mission to "promote public inquiry and strengthen democratic participation." Demand transparency regarding where these records are going and how they plan to maintain public access.
Physical Mailing Address: National Archives and Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20740-6001
- Ed Forst, Acting Archivist of the United States (Head and chief administrator)
- Jay Trainer, Chief Operating Officer | Email: jay.trainer@nara.gov
- Chris Naylor, Executive for Research Services | Email: chris.naylor@nara.gov
- Corey Cooke, Acting Chief of Staff | Email: corey.cooke@nara.gov
3. Contact Congressional Oversight & Appropriations Committees
Because facility closures are driven by federal budget decisions and real estate assessments, reach out to the committees that control NARA’s policy and funding. Framed your letters around how closing this facility compromises government transparency, accountability, and local access. (Note: If you are a constituent of any of these Chairs or Ranking Members, highlight this clearly, and always copy your local representatives on the correspondence).
Operations & Policy Oversight
These committees monitor NARA’s management decisions and compliance with federal records laws.
- Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC)
- Chair: Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
- Ranking Member: Senator Gary Peters (D-MI)
- House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
- Chair: Representative James Comer (R-KY)
- Ranking Member: Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA)
Budget & Funding Oversight (Appropriations)
These subcommittees control NARA’s discretionary budget. Demand they allocate dedicated federal funding to keep regional branches open.
- Senate Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on FSGG)
- Full Committee Chair: Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
- FSGG Subcommittee Chair: Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
- FSGG Subcommittee Ranking Member: Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)
- House Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on FSGG)
- Full Committee Chair: Representative Tom Cole (R-OK)
- FSGG Subcommittee Chair: Representative Dave Joyce (R-OH)
- FSGG Subcommittee Ranking Member: Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Spread the Word
Share this alert with historians, genealogists, students, labor advocates, and community members. Our history belongs to the public, not in a locked warehouse across the country.
Please share any correspondence you receive to advocacy@chicagogenealogy.org . Also, free to ask for any help to compose correspondence.
Don’t let them bury our history. Fight the closure today!
This was originally posted by Barbara J. Mathews, CG® Emeritus, FASG who obtained it from the Chicago Genealogical Society.
See you at our favorite library!
LE
