Contact Your Reps! Protect an Independent LoC and NARA

In light of recent reporting by the Washington Post regarding staff at the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration feeling pressure to modify exhibition materials for fear of political reprisal, the Concerned Archivists Alliance organizers have put together a script for contacting your elected representatives urging them to protect the independence of these national cultural heritage institutions during these extraordinatory times.

As we call on the Librarian of Congress and the National Archivist in our open letters to stand firm in the face of political pressure, we must support them in their work by asking on our elected representatives to affirm and strengthen their independence from the executive branch.

Dear [elected representative], 

The Washington Post has recently published two stories revealing that employees at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Library of Congress altered, or removed from display, images of 2017 Women’s March protests because the images included messages critical of President Trump. These decisions suggest a worrying pattern of civil servants in our government fearing that accurately and fully documenting dissent in our present political moment may jeopardize their jobs, their staff, their collections, and their institutions. In order to address this problem, I ask that you act to: 

1) secure funding for the National Archives and Library of Congress such that they will not have to fear political retaliation in the form of budgets slashed or eliminated if their collection, preservation, access, and educational activities run afoul of a given presidential administration, and 

2) affirm that the Librarian of Congress reports to Congress, not to the President, and will be supported in the execution of their duties even in such circumstances as those duties document and make publicly visible political dissent, and

3) affirm that the National Archives and Records Administration is an independent federal agency, and that the National Archivist serves the Constitution and the history of the country, not the President.

These three steps are necessary, in these extraordinary times, to ensure a full and accurate accounting of our political history. 

Sincerely,

[your name here]