By Joan Brown Wettingfeld
With all the recent publicity engendered by the millennium and the retrieval of time capsules, I was amazed to discover that our National Archives collection, as an entity, is only 66 years old, having been established in 1934. Today, in a short span of time, technology grants us access to this storehouse of history via the Web, a different experience by far from that of early scholars and historians.
The creation of the National Archives by an act of Congress in 1934 was the result of extreme displeasure with the methods used to preserve our heritage through its documents. Congress voiced its concern as early as 1810 in an age dominated by leaders who were classically educated and knowledgeable about history. Until recent times precious records were farmed out to the various agencies that had accumulated them, resulting in loss, deterioration, and in many cases, destruction of valuable records and materials. It was not until 1926 (137 years after the founding of our republic) that Congress assumed the task of providing for the construction of a building to house our national archives where federal records could be stored, preserved and consulted.
The 1934 act of Congress provided for the organization of the National Archives to be administered by the archivist of the United States. The archivist was given the task of accepting and preserving government records, and was to be aided and advised by a National Archives Council. The building to house the collection was completed in 1934.
A little over a year ago I was privileged to visit the National Archives exhibit entitled,
