Happy Birthday Waldo!

This is the birthday of Waldo Gifford Leland, born this day in 1879 in Newton, Massachusetts.  He was a historian with careers at the Carnegie Institution and the Library of Congress, and played an important role in the creation of the National Archives. Leland’s portrait hangs among those of the previous Archivists of the United … Continue reading Happy Birthday Waldo!

We Salute You

Veterans Day has special meaning for us at the National Archives where we hold the almost 112 million individual personnel files and medical records of the men and women who have served in the military. Housed in St. Louis, Missouri and Valmeyer, Illinois, more than 800 staff process, protect, and service those records to ensure … Continue reading We Salute You

Records Management with a Backbone

In his Memorandum on Managing Government Records,  President Obama stated “…proper records management is the backbone of open Government.”  The Memorandum began an executive branch wide effort to reform records management policies and practices and required each agency to: identify a senior official responsible for records provide plans for improving or maintaining its records management … Continue reading Records Management with a Backbone