Records moving to Philadelphia and Kansas City
The Legal Genealogist candidly admits to having been really distracted from genealogy news in the past few months.
Between the summer institute season and family gatherings and the ordinary affairs of life, I’ve not paid all the attention I should have to what was going on around the world of family history research.
But how in the world did I miss the news that the National Archives regional repository in New York City is shutting its doors — permanently closing — this week, with all its records shifted to either Philadelphia or Kansas City????
I mean, I went back over all of the announcements in the What’s New for Researchers page of the National Archives. Nope, not there.
I checked the web page for NARA New York City itself. Nope, not there.
Looked in the 2022-2026 strategic plan for NARA. Nope. Not there either.
Checked the Facebook page for the New York repository. Nope, not there.
Looked on the Facebook page of NARA itself and, if it’s there, I for one didn’t see it.
Where you will find it is in a NARA press release issued two weeks ago — two weeks! and nobody noticed! — with the headline: “National Archives Announces Changes to Support Digital Transformation and Improved Access; Three NARA Facilities to Close and Two Offices to be Relocated.” There and, as far as I can tell, there alone, we find this announcement:
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House facility will be open to researchers until Friday, August 16. Over the next several months, records held in New York will be transferred to National Archives locations in Philadelphia and Kansas City. Information about the destination of specific record series will be made available at www.archives.gov/nyc. These records will be available at the new locations and through digital service. Educational programs will continue to be supported by National Archives staff and from other locations.
Yep, you read that right. On August 1, NARA announced the New York regional facility would close on August 16.
I’m gobsmacked.
How did we all miss this? Or am I the only one who did?
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “NARA NYC closing,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 14 Aug 2024).
One wonders where that decision came from, and when – a lot of planning had to be going in the background… Athough of course it’s just a little bitty wee archive, so no one, no organization, no business, no researchers in the biggest city in the US is going to be ‘inconvenienced’ by this sudden notice -?! Wow.
NARA NYC CLOSING TODAY! And with only 2-weeks notice! My question is which records are going where?
— Inquiring minds want to know.
— Researchers NEED to know.
AND WHY was there no period of public input? Is such a major closure without clear notice even legal?
Best kept secret in New York City!
Although the records storage location is not as convenient to those in New York, (as Alex has pointed out), NARA has been moving an increasing number of records from most of its facilities to the three caves in the Kansas City metro area. Much cheaper storage not to mention centrally located so fewer transportation costs (both for the records and for those needing to visit on-site). Adding to all of this is the emphasis that NARA has put on making many more records available online. I don’t know the exact differences in storage costs but imagine any city center is much more expensive in comparison to already existing caves not in city centers that are also much cheaper to operate and maintain the correct temperature and humidity for preservation………..not to mention much less vulnerable to a terrorist attack……..Given that NARA continues to be woefully understaffed for their mission, they do an amazing job! Remember it was quite radical when the previous Archivist of the US opened the door to citizen archivists and others (ie Fold 3) to scan and/or transcribe records that would otherwise ONLY be available on-site.
It is odd that more notice of this closure wasn’t given. However, this path may have already been set in motion when the archive moved from Varick St. to Bowling Green. In 2012 NARA put together an FAQ (https://www.archives.gov/nyc/move-faq.html) which indicated that they were already storing half of their 100,000 cubic feet of records offsite. I believe that the current location held less than 10,000 cubic feet onsite, with the vast majority of non-court records records being in a Federal Records Center in northern Philadelphia, where the Philadelphia branch of NARA is located. In 2021 responsibility for more than 300 series of court records was formally transitioned to NARA in Kansas City, where they had physically moved the records 15 years before (see: https://www.archives.gov/nyc/custody-transfer-to-kc ). It’s my understanding that NARA New York records that were in Philadelphia could already be accessed there, so this move will make it clearer where you can go to see the records without having to have them transported to downtown Manhattan.
By sliding it under the radar there is no opportunity for disagreement or push back.
I got an email from IAJGS with a link to the press release on August 1st. The press release was issued on August 1st. They only gave us 16 days notice.
It’s not like Philadelphia and especially Kansas City are convenient to New York researchers. Sheesh!
They didn’t want the community to rise up and protest.
I read that they learned from the protest over NARA in Seattle, so tried to slip this one by everyone, which they pretty much did.