An email from Jay Trainer, National Archives and Records Administration chief operating officer, told employees that two National Archives locations, one in San Bruno, CA, and another in Chicago, IL, would be closed in the next few years and documents would be moved to other archival locations.

The San Bruno facility is officially called the National Archives at San Francisco, and, among other things, it serves as a unique hub for research into Asian and Pacific immigrant history in the United States. The Chicago facility houses records about Midwestern history and indigenous tribes, also critical for local research.

Records would be moved to the Seattle Federal Records Center, Trainer’s email read, and that process could begin within the next few months and render many records inaccessible to the communities most interested in them. The Organization of American Historians has posted a statement condemning this action.

Save Our National Archives, a group formed to stop a prior attempt to shut down the San Bruno archives location 28 years ago, is coming together once again to oppose the closure and start a letter-writing campaign against the decision.

Chicago Area Archivists have also posted a statement and call to action detailing ways you can help oppose the closure of their local facility, such as contacting NARA officials directly.

Take action today!  Sign a petition via change.org about both facilities, here, and send letters to Congress via Save OUR National Archives, here. Additionally, there is a petition for the Chicago facility you can sign via change.org here.

On July 13th, the Trump administration announced the decision to shrink the protected areas of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, two treasured areas in Utah, by almost 90%. National Monument designations are intended to safeguard areas of exceptional historic, scientific, cultural, or ecological value from resource exploitation and pollution. The designations for these two sites were hard-won by a coalition of many indigenous tribal nations, environmental advocates, recreation advocates, and public servants, and. These designations help protect numerous sacred indigenous sites, beloved recreational areas, local ecology, and critical water sources.

Many organizations have issued public statements opposing this decision, including the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, who reconfirmed their commitment to protect their ancestral homeland, and the environmental nonprofits Conservation Lands Foundation and American Rivers. 

Take action today by submitting a prepared, editable letter via the Conservation Lands Foundation, here. 

Join cultural heritage professionals nationwide on Saturday, October 18, for the No Kings nonviolent protests. (Look up your local protests at nokings.org or mobilize.us.) Stand together in defense of free speech, the integrity of our work, and the institutions that safeguard our shared past. There is no culture without freedom of expression.

Fight censorship of our history by taking photos of all signs and historical markers at National Park Service-administered sites. Send them here!

Stand with your community this Labor Day by joining an organized action or demonstration.