National Archives and Records Administration

The historian J. Franklin Jameson began campaigning for a central archives in 1908, an effort that led to funding for the National Archives Building in 1926.⁠[1]

On February 20, 1933, outgoing President Herbert HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Hoover (1874–1964) was an American mining engineer, humanitarian and politician who led food relief for Europe during and after World War I, served as U.S. secretary of commerce from 1921 to 1928 and was the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933, a term dominated by the Great Depression.Open the full entry laid the cornerstone of the National Archives Building, two weeks before Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) was an American politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 to 1945, the only president elected four times; he led the country through the Great Depression and World War II and greatly expanded the federal government’s role through the New Deal.Open the full entry took office.⁠[1]

On June 19, 1934, Roosevelt signed the National Archives Act (48 Stat. 1122), which Budget Director Lewis W. Douglas had recommended approving that day; it created the National Archives as an independent agency together with the National Historical Publications Commission, which first met on January 29, 1935.⁠[2][1]

On October 10, 1934, Roosevelt nominated Robert DiggsRZARZA (born Robert Diggs) is an American rapper, record producer, film composer and director who in 1992 formed the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan with his cousins and others and served as its principal producer, known for a style that blends kung fu films and Eastern philosophy.Open the full entry Wimberly Connor (R.D.W. Connor), a historian who headed the history and government department at the University of North Carolina, as the first Archivist of the United States. With the Senate out of session, Connor began work as a recess appointee, hiring staff and pressing for completion of the building; Roosevelt renominated him on January 10, 1935, and the Senate confirmed him by unanimous consent on March 20, 1935.⁠[3]

In November 1935 staff first moved into the uncompleted National Archives Building.⁠[2]

In 1939 the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library became the first presidential archival depository and the start of the presidential library system.⁠[2]

On June 30, 1949, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act transferred the National Archives to the General Services Administration (GSA); given its new responsibility for current records, it was renamed the National Archives and Records Service (NARS), and from then on the GSA Administrator appointed the Archivist.⁠[2][4]

The Federal Records Act of 1950 expanded the records management role of NARS, which went on to establish records centers for semi-active federal records.⁠[2]

On December 13, 1952, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were moved from the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the library of the United States Congress. Founded in 1800 and housed on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., it answers reference requests from Congress, the public and other federal agencies.Open the full entry to the National Archives exhibition hall.⁠[2]

The Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 gave the federal government custody of Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Nixon (1913–1994) was an American politician who represented California in the U.S. House and Senate, served as vice president from 1953 to 1961 and was the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. His administration opened relations with China, signed strategic arms limitation agreements with the Soviet Union and ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War; he resigned over the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974, the only U.S. president to do so.Open the full entry’s tape recordings, documents and records, and the Presidential Records Act of 1978 made presidential records created after January 20, 1981, the property of the United States.⁠[2]

Robert M. Warner, the sixth Archivist, led the push for independence; Senator Thomas Eagleton introduced S. 905 in 1983, which gained bipartisan support. Both chambers passed the bill in early October 1984 and sent it to President Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Reagan (1911–2004) was an American politician and actor who worked as a radio sports announcer and film actor before serving as governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.Open the full entry on October 4, and Reagan, on the advice of Counselor to the President Edwin Meese, signed it on October 19, 1984 (Public Law 98-497).⁠[4]

The law took effect on April 1, 1985, re-establishing the National Archives as an independent agency whose head is appointed by the President, under the name National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).⁠[4][2]

The National Archives at College Park, MarylandMarylandMaryland is a Middle Atlantic state of the United States, deeply indented by Chesapeake Bay and bordered by Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, the District of Columbia and West Virginia; its capital is Annapolis and its largest city is Baltimore. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on April 28, 1788, as the seventh state to do so, and had a population of 6,177,224 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, was accepted as substantially complete in July 1993, opened for research on January 3, 1994, and was dedicated on May 12, 1994.⁠[2]

The Rotunda closed on July 5, 2001, for the renovation of the original building and reopened on September 18, 2003.⁠[2]

Colleen Shogan was nominated by President Joe Biden on August 3, 2022, confirmed by the Senate on May 10, 2023, and assumed office as the 11th Archivist of the United States on May 17, 2023, the first woman to hold the post on a permanent basis. She had been senior vice president of the White House Historical Association and had worked for more than a decade at the Library of Congress, including as deputy director of the Congressional Research Service.⁠[5][6]

Within weeks of Donald Trump taking office in 2025, Shogan was fired and Trump appointed Secretary of State Marco RubioMarco RubioMarco Rubio (born 1971) is an American politician and lawyer, a Republican who served as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and as a U.S. senator from Florida, and has been the 72nd U.S. secretary of state since 2025.Open the full entry as acting head of the National Archives. On February 5, 2026, a National Archives spokesman said Rubio was “no longer the acting archivist of the United States”; NARA’s general counsel said he had stepped back to comply with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which limits acting service in Senate-confirmed posts, and that he had delegated his National Archives authority to James Byron, a senior adviser to the archivist.⁠[7]

Bradford P. Wilson was nominated in March 2026 and confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 2026, as the 12th Archivist of the United States; as of November 2026 the National Archives website lists him as the current Archivist.⁠[8][9]

Wilson retired in 2024 as executive director of the James MadisonJames MadisonJames Madison (1751–1836) was the fourth president of the United States, serving from 1809 to 1817. He helped frame the Constitution, co-wrote The Federalist and guided the Bill of Rights through Congress, and earlier served as a U.S. representative and secretary of state.Open the full entry Program at Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private university and Ivy League member in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered on October 22, 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and adopted its present name in 1896. Undergraduate education leads to A.B. and B.S.E. degrees and emphasizes small-group discussion, independent research and residential college life. Graduate education spans the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. As of October 2026, Christopher L. Eisgruber was president. Its 2026–27 operating budget was $3.407 billion, including $342 million for undergraduate aid.Open the full entry; before that he spent eight years at the National Association of Scholars, first as acting president and then as executive director, and from 1984 to 1987 he was a research associate to Chief Justices Warren E. Burger and William H. Rehnquist. He holds a BA from North Carolina State University, an MA from Northern Illinois University and a PhD in politics from The Catholic University of America.⁠[8]

NARA’s facilities include the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, the Federal Records Center in Suitland, Maryland, and underground Federal Records Centers in Lee’s Summit, MissouriMissouriMissouri is a state of the United States bounded on the east by the Mississippi River; its capital is Jefferson City, its largest city is Kansas City, and its second-largest is St. Louis. It was admitted to the Union on August 10, 1821, as the 24th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 6,154,913.Open the full entry (1997), Lenexa, KansasKansasKansas is a state of the United States bordered by Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east, Oklahoma to the south, and Colorado to the west; its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita. It was admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861, as the 34th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 2,937,880.Open the full entry (2003), and Kansas City’s “Subtropolis” (2012), while a limestone cave annex in Valmeyer, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is a state of the United States that borders Lake Michigan and the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa; its capital is Springfield and its largest city is Chicago. It was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, as the 21st state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 12,812,508.Open the full entry (2008), serves the National Personnel Records Center.⁠[10]

After R.D.W. Connor, the Archivists of the United States were Solon Buck (from 1941), Wayne Grover (from 1948), Robert H. Bahmer (from 1966), James B. Rhoads (from 1968), Robert M. Warner (from 1980), Don Wilson (from 1987), John W. Carlin (from 1995), Allen Weinstein (from February 16, 2005) and David S. Ferriero (from November 6, 2009), with Frank Burke (April 16, 1985–December 4, 1987), Trudy Huskamp Peterson (March 25, 1993–May 29, 1995) and Adrienne C. Thomas (December 20, 2008–November 5, 2009) serving as Acting Archivist in between.⁠[2]

Ferriero retired in April 2022; Debra Steidel Wall, Deputy Archivist since July 2011, was Acting Archivist from May 1, 2022, to May 17, 2023, followed by Colleen Shogan.⁠[11][6]

National Archives and Records Administration: Official website: https://www.archives.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[10]

X: Public account: https://x.com/usnatarchives (opens in a new window).⁠[12]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/USNationalArchives (opens in a new window).⁠[13]