Recovering the Public Record

Peter J. Wosh

OAH members have much to be concerned about regarding access to historical documents. Rela tively obscure federal regulations, administrative decisions at the agency level, and interpretive disagreements over legislative language often shape and color the historical record in subtle yet significant ways. In this column, I would like to highlight a report that recently came to our attention from the State Department Advisory Committee on Historical Documentation (SDAC).

SDAC's 2000 annual report, transmitted to Madeleine Albright from committee chair Michael J. Hogan in December, illustrates some of the complex issues facing the historical/archival community. This committee, created in accordance with the Foreign Relations statute of 1991, oversees the preparation of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, monitors efforts by the Department of State to open its historical record to the public, and advises the Secretary of State on matters related to the archival documentation of American foreign policy and diplomacy. The committee's report emphasized several ongoing problem areas that trouble historians and archivists.

Declassification appears the most significant bone of contention. Members remain "gravely concerned" about the efforts of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board to exempt its records from the existing declassification statute, "on the dubious grounds that it provides personal and private information to the President." Similarly, the CIA continues to claim that the President's Daily Briefs remain outside declassification since they fall under the category of privileged advice to the President. These critically important records, which document the actual information provided to the President rather than general summaries, have been exempted from declassification review. Material over thirty-years old continues to be treated as highly sensitive and remains outside the review process. The CIA's insistence on case-by-case declassification for all of its own records, and the absence of uniform procedures and guidelines for treating its own documentation, also occasioned negative comment by committee members. Systematic declassification remains an elusive goal, and an Information Security Policy Advisory Council established by executive order in 1995 has yet to be appointed.

Three long-standing issues concerning FRUS remain unresolved. First, the committee noted concerns about the access conditions relating to Henry Kissinger's papers at the Library of Congress. Transcripts of telephone conversations selected for inclusion in FRUS often contain substantial deletions, and the State Department's historian cannot determine their significance owing to access restrictions. Further, the Committee criticized the "unnecessarily complex and redundant procedures" that have been established to implement the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974. These procedural problems have created significant delays for FRUS. Finally, staffing shortages at the Historical Office in the State Department have impeded ongoing efforts to redesign and modernize the FRUS series. Fourteen new staff positions have been approved by the Public Affairs Bureau and need to be filled rapidly by trained historians to ensure the revitalization of the series. In sum, the report presents a fairly troubling picture concerning declassification and FRUS. Historians and archivists need to follow these developments closely and express their concerns.

The Organization of American Historians' Committee on Research and Access addresses numerous important issues that require intensive collaboration between historians and archivists. The Committee serves as a clearinghouse for information concerning archival access, monitors current trends, discusses issues ranging from CIA declassification to records schedules for the 2000 census at its annual meetings, and attempts to keep the broader profession abreast of ongoing issues. Members may contact the committee and share their concerns by sending an email toOAH.

Peter J. Wosh is Director of the Archival Management Program at New York University and chair of the OAH Committee on Research and Access to Historical Documentation. He is also author of Spreading the Word: The Bible Business in Nineteenth-Century America (Cornell Press, 1994). His most recent article is "Research and Reality Checks: Change and Continuity in NYU's Archival Management Program," which was published in American Archivist (Fall 2000).