With each day bringing news of the exit or entrance of another high ranking administration official, an air of uncertainty hangs over many of the federal agencies and policies of concern to historians. The reorganization of the White House staff and the large number of ambassadorial and other high level positions awaiting attention lead us to believe that it may be some time before the President submits to the Senate for confirmation a nominee for the position of Archivist of the United States. If this is the case, the historical and archival community will have some additional time to promote their concerns about appropriate qualifications and suggest specific persons who would be able to provide the needed leadership for the new agency.
Although the National Archives will not become an independent agency until April 1, the General Services Administrator granted authority to the Archivist, following the passage of the independence legislation, to begin establishing organizational changes at the National Archives. One of the developments of particular interest to historians is the creation of a separate Legislative Records Division.
Examples of reorganization and uncertainy abound. There is considerable speculation about the future of the Department of Education now that the President has nominated William Bennett to become the Secretary of Education. Some organizational shifts are already on the drawing board at the National Endowment for the Humanities and more may be forthcoming with the appointment of a new NEH chair. And it is most probable that there will be some changes at the National Park Service with the departure of both the Director of the National Park Service and the Secretary of Interior. On the preservation front, a task force of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is in the process of developing new regulations that may have a major effect on the procedures for implementing the Historic Preservation Act. While we are watching these developments with interest, it is too early to surmise their impact on historical and archival concerns.
On a smaller scale, one reorganizational plan that does not bode well for history is the possible elimination of the Historical Office of the US Department of Labor. From its creation in the 1960’s, the primary task of this office has been to conduct research and construct written narratives on past programs and policies of the Department of Labor and labor history in general. This office has played an important role in the promotion of historical scholarship by maintaining an annotated index of department records and facilitating the work of government and academic researchers. During a 1982 reorganizational shift the Historical Office was moved to the Labor Department’s Department of Libraries, placing it three bureaucratic levels below that of most agency history offices. Now the library is facing more reorganization and much of its work may be placed under contract, thereby decreasing the number of professional staff and the scope and depth of the department. Hank Guzda, Historian for the Labor Department, has said, “We are being subsumed into the library to perform library not historical functions and may be compared metaphorically to having tickets on the Titanic.” The NCC is currently coordinating an effort to restore the Historical Office to a position in which it will be able to resume its intended historical functions.
NCC Organizational News
- The member organizations of the NCC met on December 28, 1984, in Chicago. The meeting focused on strategies for influencing the selection of the next Archivist of the United States and on identifying the legislative and policy issues for the NCC’s 1985 agenda. Anyone wishing information on these matters may contact the NCC Office at 400 A St., SE, Washington, DC 20003.
- During 1984 three additional organizations became supporting members of the NCC. We welcome the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and the American Association for State and Local History.
- This past fall, a new NCC state committee was formed in Arkansas. This brings the total number of state committees to twenty-eight.
