August 31, 2010
The Honorable David A. Paterson
Governor
Executive Chamber
Albany, New York 12224
Dear Governor Paterson:
On behalf of the American Historical Association, I am writing in support of S6846/A9928 to assure the proper deposit and treatment of Governors’ records. The Association was chartered by an act of Congress in 1889 “for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical manuscripts and for kindred purposes in the interest of American history and of history in America.” Since that time we have been actively involved in the development of records policies at the state and federal level, and played an instrumental role in the development the federal Presidential Records Act on which this legislation is modeled. As this bill now comes to your desk for final consideration, I hope you will sign the legislation into law.
The Presidential Records Act was established to assure that the records of the executive branch at the federal level are preserved for posterity and maintained under the highest professional standards. The records of the executive branch of one of this nation’s largest states should be treated with similar care and attention. We are deeply troubled that records from some of your predecessors have left the custody of the state—and in some cases were destroyed—doing considerable harm to historians’ ability to reconstruct the historical record on matters of vital public policy.
The legislation before you can play an indispensable part in assuring that future generations of citizens and historians will not suffer from similar gaps in the historical record. We believe that the records of the governor of New York should be preserved with the same diligent care that is now afforded to the records of presidents, and ask you to sign S6846/A9928.
Sincerely,
Arnita A. Jones
Executive Director