Preserving the American Historical Record Act

Archival-related legislation will soon be introduced to Congress.

The "Preserving the American Historical Record" Act (PAHR) seeks to ensure the preservation of American history records (records dealing with births, education, marriage, divorce, property, etc.) by creating a partnership at the national, state, and local level. Click here to see the complete bill.

It would allow the Archivist of the United States to make grants to individual states for preservation and dissemination based on a federal formula--Arkansas, for example, would be eligible for $529,544 in federal funds. The full list of funds available in each state can be found here. States would provide matching funds and local repositories (like the Butler Center) would be asked to provide additional supplemental funding and to implement the programs.

The bill is sponsored by 3 "Partners for the American Historical Record"--the Council of State Archivists, the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators, and the Society of American Archivists. It is endorsed by many other organizations including the American Association for State and Local History, the American Historical Association, and the Society of Southwest Archivists.

More information is available here.

What do you think? Are you supportive of the PAHR? Why or why not?