Activism, Unity, and the Georgia State Archives

Jamil S. Zainaldin

The following appeared in the November, 2012 issue of OAH Outlook, the quarterly membership newsletter of the Organization of American Historians. Copyright © All rights reserved.

Update: November 14, 2012. Since appearing in print, we have learned that Georgians Against Closing State Archives led the petition drive, with signatures presented to the Governor on their behalf. We regret the error.

For the past month the Georgia State Archives has been in the throes of a life and death struggle. On September 13, without any warning, Georgia secretary of state Brian P. Kemp announced his plan to close the archives to the public effective November 1, “due to budget cuts.” (The governor had called on all agency heads to make a 3 percent cut in their midyear operating budgets.) Kemp also mandated a staff reduction that would leave only three full-time employees in the building; as recently as 2002, the archives staff numbered fifty-four. In addition to managing the archives, the secretary of state’s office monitors elections, manages Georgia’s professional licensures, and oversees the registration of professionals and businesses. To protect other divisions from harm, however, Kemp placed the entirety of his midyear cut on records management.

In truth, the announcement was the culmination of five years of steady funding erosion. Kemp’s predecessor in office, Karen Handel, began the practice of cutting disproportionately into the archives’ budget in the name of government efficiency. In 2010, after three years in office, she resigned her position to run for governor, but the practice of making deep cuts to the archives continued under Kemp. Clearly, that the archives is under the jurisdiction of the secretary of state’s office was becoming the archives’ greatest liability.

In a show of support and coordination, Georgia’s archival, library, genealogical, and academic communities formed the Coalition to Preserve the Georgia Archives. Within five days of Kemp’s announcement of impending closure, the coalition managed to secure approximately 15,000 signatures in protest of his action. Two prominent historians, Timothy Crimmins of Georgia State University and James C. Cobb of the University of Georgia, wrote opinion editorials for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, prompting greater media and public attention inside and outside of the state. National Public Radio, the New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the local press ran more stories, noting that Georgia was about to become the only state without an open archives.

Coincidentally, prior to Kemp’s announcement, Gov. Nathan Deal designated October as Georgia Archives Month and already had scheduled his public signing of the resolution for September 19. Coalition members used the occasion to personally deliver their signed petition to the governor. To their surprise, Deal said he would keep the archives open, but he offered few details about how and when this rescinding, if that is what it was, would take effect.

With the November 1 closing date fast approaching and with much still up in the air, protests continued into the first week of October with a rally in the capitol just outside the secretary of state’s office. Letters from Georgia residents and from around the country continued arriving in the governor’s office daily. The OAH, and other members of the National Coaltion for History, sent letters to the Georgia governor as well. (See http://www.oah.org/news/20120919_gsa.html)

Surprised by the volume of complaints and widespread negative media coverage, on October 15 Secretary Kemp announced he, too, was now in favor of keeping the archives open and accessible through the end of the fiscal year, July 1, 2013. However, he did not rescind the personnel cuts. In the meantime, public use of the archives was to be limited to advance appointments and only on Saturdays, with a cap of 228 persons served per month until the Georgia General Assembly acted.

Then, on October 18, in response to the outcry, the governor and the secretary of state issued a joint announcement: $125,000 would be provided to retain two more archivists and, pending the approval of the General Assembly, the archives would be transferred out of the secretary of state’s office and into the University of Georgia system. “The Georgia’s Archives are a showcase of our state’s rich history and a source of great pride,” said the governor, and he added that he was seeking to “find a solution.” His statements are being received positively by archives supporters who view higher education’s mission, capacity, and expertise as great advantages in preserving the archives. In the meantime, unresolved budgetary questions remain, and any final determination must await the General Assembly’s action, still months away. What will happen to the archives’ professional staff in the interim? Five people will be able to keep the archives open on its current restricted schedule, but those with technical document preservation and curation expertise will be terminated.

The Friends of Georgia Archives and History (http://www.fogah.org/), on behalf of the Coalition to Preserve the Georgia Archives, has retained a lobbyist to sort out these details and to prepare for the legislative session that commences in January 2013. There are still open questions, but a great deal has transpired since the announcement of the closing just six weeks ago, some of it very positive. What are we learning?

First, state archives and cultural institutions everywhere are at risk in the current budget-cutting climate.

Second, unity is important. A rapid response from a broad cross section of state and national constituents not only reversed a disastrous decision but could also help lay the groundwork for a long-term solution to the state’s archival problems. Only time will tell.

Third, e-mail listservs, blogs, and the Internet are invaluable. The secretary of state was not prepared for the breadth and depth of support for the archives, and he probably did not grasp the symbolic significance of cutting off—or nearly cutting off—the people’s access to the records of their government. Members of the Tea Party movement in Georgia were just as upset as genealogists, attorneys, academics, and librarians. Former congressman Bob Barr, a member of the Liberty party who spoke at the rally organized by the coalition, condemned the secretary of state’s decision to close the archives.

Fourth, in matters such as the archives closure, it is important for professional historians and archivists to be seen and heard. They bring a gravitas to the conversation that media respects, as well as an expertise that the public trusts. James Cobb shared the stage with Bob Barr at the capitol rally.

Finally, we live in an era of difficult choices. Though moving at last in the right direction, with a more satisfactory home for the archives in the offing, we are still some distance from a final settlement. Lawmakers not only recognize when there is broad public support for a decision but they also pay close attention when a large citizen coalition decries a decision they see as having a negative impact on the state. Lawmakers need and want informed opinion from those most impacted by change. In an election year, they also recognize a voter when they see one. •

Jamil S. Zainaldin is president of the Georgia Humanities Council and is secretary of the Friends of Georgia Archives and History.