National Archives Press Release

Shogan Confirmed by U.S. Senate as 11th Archivist of the United States

June 3, 2023 from 2-5:30 PM at the Gatton Student Center Grant Ballroom, University of Kentucky

Celebration of Life Invitation

Conference: The New International Economic Order. Lessons and Legacies 50 Years Late 

May 10-11, 2024. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

SHAFR and NARA: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides several resources for SHAFR members and other researchers who have questions about NARA  or who want to prepare for a research visit. NARA's External Affairs Liaison, Meg Phillips, organizes regular meetings between NARA leaders and history associations like SHAFR. You can contact SHAFR leadership with a question or concern that you'd like them to discuss with NARA at these meetings. If you have questions about NARA as an organization, if you need help finding the right NARA office or person, or if you need information about NARA policies, you can also contact Meg directly at [email protected]. She is happy to help.

To prepare for a research trip, check out NARA's "Getting Started" and "FAQ"pages. You should complete the researcher orientation slides and online researcher application that are required before getting a researcher card.

ASIL 117th Annual Meeting Invitation [PDF]

Annual Meeting 2023 Flyer [PDF]

Deadline for both is March 20:

• Brady-Johnson Predoctoral Fellowship https://apply.interfolio.com/121255
• Kissinger Predoctoral Fellowship https://apply.interfolio.com/121153

Call for Papers

MOSEC Conference, 18-20 May 2023

SHAFR Statement on What Congress Can Do to Address the Mismanagement of Public Records

Safeguarding classified material is a national challenge that must be confronted by Congress and the Executive branch, both to protect national security and ensure democratic accountability. Long before the current controversy, it was clear that neither the Presidential Records Act nor the Federal Records Act were preventing the concealment, removal, and mutilation of public records.

The mishandling of classified documents continues to make headlines, first with the FBI's Aug. 2022 raid of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and, more recently, with the revelation that classified documents had been found at President Biden's private office and also in his home. Historian Matthew Connelly says one reason we see problems like this is that far too many government records are being categorized as "classified."

On average, Connelly says, records are marked as classified three times every second, generating so many secret documents that it's practically impossible to preserve them all.

Call for Proposals:
Peace & Protest, Past & Present
Peace History Society Conference
October 26-28, 2023 

Gwynedd Mercy University
Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania

SHAFR Award-Winners Announced at the 2023 American Historical Association annual meeting

The Stuart L. Bernath Memorial Lecture Prize was established through the generosity of Dr. Gerald J. and Myrna F. Bernath, in memory of their late son, to recognize and encourage excellence in teaching and research in the field of foreign relations by scholars at the beginning of their historical careers. 

Press Statement on Third Public Release of NARA Records Concerning the 15 Boxes Received from Mar-a-Lago in January 2022

WASHINGTON, December 20, 2022 – Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its third release of documents processed in response to nearly 50 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking NARA records related to the 15 boxes of materials we received from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in January 2022. 

Association for Documentary Editing 2023

Theme: Modalities of Text and Editing

The IEHS presents two awards of $1,000 each to help graduate students with their dissertations on American immigration, emigration, or ethnic history, broadly defined. These awards are intended for students in the process of researching and writing their dissertations, and not for students completing and defending in 2023. For the 2023 award, the committee invites applications from any Ph.D. candidate who will have completed qualifying exams by 2022.

Application materials and the supporting letter must be received by the submission deadline: December 31, 2022.

National Archives Releases New Group of JFK Assassination Documents

WASHINGTON, December 15, 2022 – In accordance with President Biden’s memorandum of December 15, 2022, the National Archives today posted 12,879 documents containing newly released information subject to the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act). Released documents are available for download.