CAA's NARA Chicago Closure Prevention Committee wants to share updates about recent work happening regarding the proposed closures of the NARA Chicago and San Bruno regional branches. We have been meeting weekly to strategize about how to keep our archives in reach and I’m excited to report out some developments, including a lunch time “reference desk” the week of October 12th-16th!

Legislative Action:

• On September 30th, Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) led a letter with 20 members of the U.S. House and Senate to the Archivist of the U.S. Bradford Wilson, expressing strong opposition to the announcement that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) intends to close the regional archive facility and Federal Records Center (FRC) located in the Congressman’s district since the 1970s. PRESS RELEASE

• Also on September 30th, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA), introduced the National Archives Protection Act, legislation that would require congressional approval before the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) can close or significantly restrict access to existing regional facilities. PRESS RELEASE 

• This compliments the previously introduced National Archives Protection Act introduced in the House by Representatives Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Judy Chu (CA-28), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04). PRESS RELEASE

Local and National Media:

• 01 October 2026 - Can Chicago’s National Archives Be Saved? Lawmakers Fight ‘Ill-Conceived’ Closure (Block Club Chicago) 

• 24 September 2026 - Lawmakers battle National Archives over plans to move historical Asian American records (NBC News) 

• 01 September 2026 - National Archives and Records Administration to close Chicago facility, prompting pushback (ABC7 Chicago) 

• 25 August 2026 - How will the closing of the National Archives at Chicago affect us? (WGN Radio)

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. On Wednesday, September 30th, NARA posted to its research news site that the first collection in Chicago would close and start moving procedures very soon: “All records of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) (RG 184) at the National Archives of Chicago will be temporarily closed to prepare for relocation to the National Archives at Boston. We estimate that these records will close on October 13, 2026, and be available to researchers at the National Archives at Boston on January 15, 2027.” These are employment and personnel records of a federal agency that is based in Chicago. Quick and comprehensive access to these records is vital for workers and families to obtain benefits. NARA leadership has promised that these collections moves will not interrupt service, but the collection is projected to be closed for at least three months.

Furthermore, on Monday, October 5th, we were alerted to a contract between NARA and Iron Mountain to perform shelf-to-shelf transfers of materials between NARA facilities. This contract started on September 28, 2026, and is projected to go through September 30, 2029. The current contract is for $8.8 million, but has a projected amount as high as $25 million. We continue to question whether this incurs the financial savings and efficiency that NARA alleges, especially when considering the immaterial cost of loss of local access, and loss of specialized Chicago-area staff.

So what is next, and what can you do?

• We will be protesting and educating at Chicago Federal Plaza the week of October 12. Each Monday through Friday we’ll be there from 11am-1pm, and we encourage you to come by and show your support for keeping these National Archives accessible in Chicago! If you are able, please RSVP here.

• If you can only come one day, make it Friday, October 16th - we hope to have some political support and we will be sharing our demonstration with local media

• During Archives Month this October, we encourage our members to visit the National Archives at Chicago facility to research a topic that interests you! NARA is an incredible asset to our region and its 140,000 cubic feet of records hold many fascinating finds. To visit, you’ll need to register for a research card and make a research appointment ahead of time. If you aren’t sure what to research, we suggest looking at the Chicago holdings highlights, BMRC highlights about Black history, this list of Indigenous records, and NARA’s catalog and finding aids. Of course, you can email and visit NARA anytime, but we want everyone to experience why this closure would be such an immense local loss.   

Hello Chicago Area Archivists,

The Curation & Exhibits Interest Group is planning future events, and we’d love your input!

We’ve created a short survey to learn more about what kinds of programs and activities you’d find most useful, interesting, and fun. We’re also hoping to learn a little more about the exhibit programs and projects happening across our archival community. Your responses will help us plan events that reflect members’ interests and learning needs—and, hopefully, give us some opportunities to connect, share ideas, and have fun along the way.

The anonymous survey should take just a few minutes to complete and is available through this link until October 23, 2026.

Whether you regularly create exhibitions, are just getting started, or simply have an interest in curation and exhibits, we’d love to hear from you. Your perspective will help us make the Interest Group’s programming as relevant and engaging as possible.

Thanks for helping us shape what’s next!

Best,
Danielle Scheidt and Patti Gibbons
Curation & Exhibits Interest Group Chairs

Fourteen CAA members and guests gathered at our summer potluck (the first since 2019!) at Cook County Forest Preserve's LaBagh Woods on Sunday, September 13. We shared good food and good conversation, and had a great time.

Look out for the potluck to return next summer! We hope to make it an annual event again.

Created Equal: The Premises and Promises of the Declaration of Independence

University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center Gallery, 1^st Floor September 8 through December 11, 2026

The story of the making of the Declaration of Independence often centers on its revolutionary authors, prominent politicians such as John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and (above all) Thomas Jefferson. But the Declaration we know today is equally a product of generations of readers, individuals, and groups who discovered divergent meanings among its self-evident truths.

What story, then, best suits our moment?

This exhibition, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the document in 2026, invites visitors to experience the diverse responses to the Declaration in the age of the American Revolution, consider unfolding understandings over time, and explore conflicting interpretations individuals and groups have proposed at significant moments in history.

Digital exhibit link 

Information for Your Visit:

University of Chicago Regenstein Library

1100 E. 57^th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

Special Collections (1^st floor): Weekdays 9am-4:45 pm

https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/libraries/libraries-hours/

Free and open to all

https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/

For more information, contact: Patti Gibbons, pgibbons@uchicago.edu

Are you launching a new exhibit?

CAA members are welcome to share news of exhibits on view at their institutions. Please tell us more on this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesaDrz5BstR9CMUtLNlVVl-uiwUSr_sbE6L1TK7BY2ehbV1w/viewform

On July 11, CAA members were invited to attend a two-part event featuring a Genealogy 101 workshop and a guided tour of the exhibition "Conceived in Liberty: Cartoons, Caricatures, and Illustrations in the Wartime US, 1812-1918" at the Newberry Library. The event's first half featured an introductory research orientation led by Newberry reference librarians, which covered the basic principles of family tree building, genealogy collection strengths, and effective search strategies. A brochure was distributed to encourage further research into genealogy and advice on how Newberry resources could be used to help. Following a lunch break at the farmer's market on Division Street, the remaining participants spent an hour learning how artists championed, critiqued, and satirized America's relationship the ideals to liberty spanning the War of 1812 to the end of World War I. This was followed by a short informal Q&A session with the docent about some of the historic items on display.  

Although fourteen people registered for the event in total, there was a significant drop-off in attendance for the second half of the day's programming. This decrease could be attributed to people's scheduling needs or interests, and followed a similar disparity among non-member attending the events. The event did not meet its capacity of 20 so a waitlist was not necessary. 

If you're interested in attending the Newberry during some other time, you can learn more about their public tours here: https://www.newberry.org/calendar/exhibitions

This summer, the CAA Programming Committee hosted a two-part workshop on Personal Finance for Archivists led by CAA member Kristin MacDonough (June 23 and July 7). The workshop’s first session covered the importance of financial literacy for those working in the cultural heritage fields and how our feelings and beliefs about money as well as our personal and professional values can influence how we manage our finances. In the second session we discussed practical strategies for improving financial stability such as becoming aware of spending habits, building an emergency fund, “deaccessioning our debt,” understanding the different types of investments and investment accounts, and how individuals can build a money plan to fit their unique needs. 

Although fifteen people registered for the workshop, only four people attended each session. This wide disparity has provided Programming with useful data about what members are interested in and how the committee could meet their scheduling needs better. Feedback from members regarding events like these is always welcome.

Please remember to email us in advance if you cannot make it to an event for any reason. Events at capacity often have a waitlist, and our event facilitators need to plan their activities on the number of attendees.

If you’re interested in the resources from this workshop, please feel free to reach out to the event facilitator, Kristin MacDonough: kristin.macdonough@gmail.com.

Gretchen Neidhardt, Chair of CAA's Ad-hoc Committee on NARA's Closure & Co-Programming Committee Chair, and Hilarie Pozesky, CAA Steering Chair, appeared on a bonus episode of the Cascade of History podcast. 

Listen HERE.

MEDIA CONTACT: info@chicagoarchivists.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 22, 2026

Pulitzer Prize Winner Jonathan Eig Joins Chicago Area Archivists in Concern Over Closure of Regional NARA Facility

Chicago, IL – Pulitzer Prize winning author Jonathan Eig made the following statement when learning from Chicago Area Archivists of plans by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to close the National Archives at Chicago facility and the co-located Chicago Federal Records Center:

“America is nothing without its history, and NARA is the keeper of our history. Local NARA facilities like the one in Chicago help preserve and enrich our national identity. Over and over again, they help to remind us who we are as Americans. They help us discover our history and ourselves. I’ve relied heavily on the Chicago NARA facility for my research. In fact, when I discovered thousands of pages of federal records from the federal government’s investigation of Al Capone sitting in liquor-store boxes in Nebraska, I purchased them and donated them to the NARA facility in Chicago, where they have since been available for all the world to see. To paraphrase Faulkner, the past is never dead; it’s not even past; it’s sitting in boxes waiting for us to dig through it, scan it on our cellphones, and usher it from the present to the future. But, of course, that only works if we continue to be responsible caretakers of our history. Our country’s future depends on it.”

—Jonathan Eig, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography and author of King: A Life, Ali: A Life, Get Capone, and other books

Mr. Eig’s remarks underscore the importance of CAA’s Call to Action to keep the National Archives at Chicago open and accessible for historians and all citizens. With more than 140,000 cubic feet of irreplaceable permanent records from 85 federal agencies across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, the collection documents the entire history of the Great Lakes region and its people—from records of momentous and historically significant events to routine paperwork that some citizens need to access in order to prove citizenship, obtain Medicare, receive other government benefits, and beyond.

What can you do? 

1. Call, Text and/or Email Your Representatives

Use some of the language above to let them know what's going on and ask them to get involved to stop this closure. 

• Find your representative: www.house.gov/representatives

• Find your senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators

2. Email NARA Leadership

Tell them you know about the intended closure, how it doesn't align with NARA's stated mission and that you are concerned. 

• Bradford P. Wilson, Acting Archivist of the United States (Head and chief administrator)

• Jay Trainer, Chief Operating Officer

• Chris Naylor, Executive for Research Services

• Corey Cooke, Acting Chief of Staff

3. Tell our State Leadership

Let them know they need to intervene now before local records and knowledge are lost.

• Kwame Raoul, Office of the Illinois Attorney General - (312) 814-3000 (Chicago office)

• Alexi Giannoulias, Office of the Secretary of State - 800-252-8980 (toll free in Illinois); 217-785-3000 (outside Illinois)

4. Sign the Chicago Petition

• https://www.change.org/savechicagoarchives

Since 1982, Chicago Area Archivists (CAA) has provided opportunities for local archivists, historians, librarians and others in the Chicago metro area to meet together for discussion, social interaction, and education. Our membership includes archivists, librarians, and records managers in academic, corporate, governmental, institutional, library, and museum settings. Our goals are to share information on issues of interest to the local archival community, to advocate for preservation of and access to historically valuable resources related to the Chicago area, and to keep members informed about archival programs and resources

https://www.chicagoarchivists.org, info@chicagoarchivists.org 

Gretchen Neidhardt, CAA NARA Closure Committee Chair and Programming Co-chair, and Hilarie Pozesky, CAA Steering Chair, were interviewed on WBEZ's In the Loop about the NARA at Chicago planned closure.

Justine Tobiasz, WBEZ & Sun Times archivist and CAA member, joined in the for interview as well.

Listen here.

From left to right: Justine Tobiasz, Gretchen Neidhardt, Hilarie Pozesky.

CAA's NARA Chicago Closure Committee has convened and begun work this week under the leadership of Gretchen Neidhardt. The team is networking and attacking the problem from many angles. In the meantime, we wanted to share an updated statement regarding the closing, as well as provide actions that you can take to try to stop this closure.

The Chicago Area Archivists Steering Committee is concerned that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) plans to close the National Archives at Chicago facility and the co-located Chicago Federal Records Center, along with San Francisco and Seattle facilities. NARA has made no public statement regarding the closures, provided little information about where the documents will go and given no plans for keeping the mostly un-digitized documents available to the public. The stealth nature of NARA’s action coupled with the lack of a transparent plan is a cause for alarm.

The National Archives at Chicago houses more than 140,000 cubic feet of irreplaceable permanent records from 85 federal agencies across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The collection documents the entire history of the Great Lakes region and its people—from records of momentous and historically significant events to routine paperwork that some citizens need to access in order to prove citizenship, obtain Medicare, receive other government benefits, and beyond.

A sampling of the records held at the National Archives at Chicago capture moments in history like the murder of Fred Hampton, the Kent State Shooting, Al Capone’s tax evasion case and registers of Midwestern men drafted to the Civil War. It also holds indispensable records for Midwestern Tribal communities, providing essential information to Tribes about their land, finances and history. There is no advertised plan for Midwestern historians, lawyers, genealogists, journalists, scientists and citizens to have continued access to these documents.

There is also great risk to the intellectual control of the archive and the loss of the people who care for them. For more than 50 years, a dedicated staff of archival professionals in Chicago have preserved these records and provided Chicagoans and Midwesterners access to their history when they need it most. The archivists and specialists at this facility have spent careers developing deep institutional knowledge—understanding provenance, developing familiarity with object locations, even knowing the materials that have never been catalogued. That expertise cannot be packed into a box along with the documents. When these professionals are displaced, that knowledge is lost.

These are not meaningless stacks of paper to be shipped off and forgotten. They are OUR records and contain the history of the people of the Great Lakes Region. The National Archives vision statement claims “The National Archives serves all Americans as a trusted repository of knowledge that inspires civic engagement and encourages the discovery of our nation’s stories.“ This move risks the public’s trust in NARA and so it is time for some civic engagement. As a federal entity, NARA is answerable to the American people and the CAA Steering Committee encourages our members, as well as the public to hold them accountable.

TAKE ACTION

It’s time to get loud! The current administration is continuing its plan of cultural silencing, including the closure of two regional NARA branches. We’re asking our members and their networks to GET LOUD about these closures, especially the NARA Chicago facility. This is only the beginning of this fight, and we need to make sure people know it’s happening!

Feel free to use any part of the above statement when communicating with representatives, leadership and your network to explain what is happening.

1. Call, Text and/or Email Your Representatives

Use some of the language above to let them know what's going on and ask them to get involved to stop this closure. 

• Find your representative: www.house.gov/representatives
• Find your senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators

2. Email NARA Leadership

Tell them you know about the intended closure, how it doesn't align with NARA's stated mission and that you are concerned. 

• Bradford P. Wilson, Archivist of the United States (Head and chief administrator)
• Jay Trainer, Chief Operating Officer
• Chris Naylor, Executive for Research Services
• Corey Cooke, Acting Chief of Staff

3. Tell our State Leadership

Let them know they need to intervene now before local records and knowledge are lost.

• Kwame Raoul, Office of the Illinois Attorney General - (312) 814-3000 (Chicago office)
• Alexi Giannoulias, Office of the Secretary of State - 800-252-8980 (toll free in Illinois); 217-785-3000 (outside Illinois)

4. Sign the Chicago Petition

• https://www.change.org/savechicagoarchives

We will share more soon, and we thank you for your advocacy.