We don’t typically get worked up about property for sale in Seattle, but when it’s the repository for historical records from Oregon and three other Western states, it warrants attention. The federal government wants to sell off the regional home of the National Archives and move its collections far away. It should reconsider.
The National Archives holds many of America’s most precious historical documents. Want to see an original copy of the U.S. Constitution? It’s on display at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.
The Seattle branch holds records from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. It’s a treasure trove of court, land, military and other historical records — everything from the eruption of Mount Saint Helens to the 19th century Chinese Exclusion Act. It also stores treaty documents and records important to the region’s Native American tribes.
All of those records are taking up valuable space, though. The Archives owns a huge building on 10 acres in Seattle not terribly far from the University of Washington. The federal Public Building Reform Board therefore recommends that the government sell the building. The Office of Management and Budget, which makes the final decision, agreed. Residential developers are the likely buyers.
Officials promoting the sale suggest that archived records could be moved a thousand miles away — or farther — to National Archive offices in Kansas City and Riverside, California.
If the federal government removes the region’s history to far-flung, inaccessible sites, it will steal away part of the Pacific Northwest’s spirit.
The value of the archive to historians should be obvious. Researchers trek to Seattle to delve into primary source material about the region. Nine doctoral students in the University of Oregon’s History Department are using the archive now, or will need to in the next couple of years. The department plans to submit a letter protesting the move.
It’s not just professionals. Amateur genealogists use the records to trace their family history. Members of Northwest tribes rely on the archives for information about their ancestors and their sovereignty.
“Moving the records to California, or elsewhere, will make them much less accessible,” UO History Prof. Ocean Howell said. “Traveling to archives requires significant time and expense, even for professors with research budgets. It’s harder still for graduate students and for ordinary citizens, particularly those who have fewer resources at their disposal.”
The federal government made this decision almost in secret. Officials didn’t reach out to the communities that would be affected. They didn’t listen to any public comment. They didn’t ask historians and tribes what it would mean to lose access.
At a minimum, federal officials should re-open this discussion for a genuinely public process. All eight of the region’s senators and many representatives have requested just that.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum should reach out to her Washington State counterpart about partnering on a lawsuit that he is considering filing to prevent the closure.
And the congressional delegation, especially Oregon’s lone Republican Rep. Greg Walden, who might get a better hearing in the Trump administration, should continue to press the Office of Management and Budget to reverse course.
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