Take Action Now

TAKE ACTION with the following steps:

  1. Express your opposition to the closure of the National Archives at San Francisco by writing to:

    Edward Forst, Acting Archivist of the United States
    National Archives and Records Administration
    8601 Adelphi Road
    College Park, MD 20740-6001
    ArchivistOfTheUnitedStates@nara.gov

    See below for talking points.

  2. Send copies of your letters to your Congressional representatives. Find their contact information here. In addition, send a letter to U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which has oversight over the General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA is the federal agency owns the building where the National Archives at San Francisco is housed.

  3. Email copies of your letters to Save OUR National Archives so that we can track advocacy efforts: SaveOurNationalArchives@gmail.com

  4. Sign these change.org petitions to add your name to those opposing the closures:

  5. Share this call to action with family, friends, and community members: www.SaveOurNationalArchives.org

TALKING POINTS FOR LETTERS

Please use your own words to express the importance of keeping these centers open. Here are some ideas for key points to address:

  • State your opposition to closing the National Archives at San Francisco.

  • State that relocating over 100,000 cubic feet of irreplaceable archival materials away from the San Francisco Bay Area - and making them inaccessible without the challenge and expense of travel - removes local communities from their vital history.

  • Share why the National Archives at San Francisco is important to you, your family, and/or your organization.

  • State why you value physical access to original records instead of having only access to digital copies of them. What was it like for you to visit the research room in-person? What was it like to handle original records?

  • Share what you’ve learned about your family or your community from the National Archives.

  • Share how what you have learned from the Naitonal Archives has helped you in your work, school, etc.

  • State that fiscal efficiency should not come at the cost of community identity and historical preservation.