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Lights On, Nobody Home at the National Archives

By Eric Muller

I'm going to be working on a research project this summer that will require me to zero in on records of the Department of Justice, especially its Enemy Alien section, during a 10-month period from late 1941 to late 1942. This is highly specialized research that focuses on voluminous records catalogued in highly idiosyncratic ways. Finding aids and research guides are sparse. To do the work effectively, a researcher absolutely needs to consult with an archivist who lives and works with the records, and knows their ins and outs. So I contacted the National Archives today to find out who has replaced the expert on Justice Department records who recently retired. The answer: nobody. "We really have no one," I was told. I knew that staffing at the National Archives had been cut back dramatically, but I had no idea it had reached the point where there is no specialist dealing with a major group of records like those of the Department of Justice. Truly remarkable.

Full post as published by Is That Legal on April 24, 2008 (boomark / email).