Guiding a tour of the renovations to the Rotunda at the National Archives
It has been ten years since I left the National Archives and Records Administration, after spending ten years as Archivist of the United States. Twenty years ago this month, I arrived in Washington D.C. having been nominated by President Clinton, introduced to the Senate by Senator Bob Dole, and then confirmed less than one month from the day I was nominated. I was honored to serve as the Archivist of the United States. It was quite an experience and, as I have been reflecting on those years, I wanted to share (in no particular order) ten of the top experiences made possible by the many people I worked with at the time.
- Meeting Julie Nixon Eisenhower my first week on the job, June 1995, which eventually led to settlement of decades-long legal fights on opening the Nixon records, including the Nixon Tapes.
- In September of my first year, making the decision that emails were records, something hard to believe today but, at that time, a matter of considerable controversy.
- Building a Foundation that became a huge partner in sharing the legacy of our nation’s records with the public as a resource and educational vehicle for our history and the importance of records as evidence of that history.
- Renovating the downtown main archives building, and with private money, building the National Archives Experience, the multifaceted public interactive education and exhibit space and the Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film, bringing the Archives experience in new ways to millions of visitors.
- Making huge progress at that time on the Electronic Records Archives and dealing with the onslaught of electronic records coming to the Archives.
- Working with two former Presidents (Bush 41 and Clinton) to help set up and build their Presidential Libraries as well as working with other Presidents and their families all the way back to Hoover.
- Building what is today called the National Archives Catalog, the Archives’ first online catalog of its holdings across the country with uploaded digital images of records, making our nation’s records for the first time available to anyone with access to the internet.
- Successfully holding off the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in its effort to move the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights - our nation’s founding records - to the Smithsonian.
- Being an advocate at the national level, including with Congress and the White House, for the critical importance of our nation’s records and archives and their role in protecting the rights of our citizens, ensuring government accountability, and documenting our national experience.
- Serving as not only a leader but a learner, working with many outstanding career public servants throughout the National Archives, its Presidential Libraries, and its nationwide network of archives and records centers as we built and implemented a 10-year agency wide strategic plan that, at the time, went a long way in modernizing the National Archives and Records Administration.
RSS Feed