For over 50 years, the Chicago regional NARA facility on South Pulaski has welcomed researchers from around the Great Lakes Region to explore their own history. Now it is being closed to reduce federal real estate costs. Local records are being packed up to ship to less accessible facilities. Local staff, with years of institutional knowledge, face uncertainty and loss. Chicago needs to know just what it is about to lose. Next week, October 12th through 16th, volunteers will staff a lunchtime "reference desk" in Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago, near the Calder flamingo, from 11am to 1pm daily. Supporters are welcome any day of the week to hold signs and provide information. If you can only make one day in the week, we suggest Friday. Location: North side of Federal plaza, near the intersection of Dearborn and Adams (look for the flagpoles) What to Bring: signs in support of NARA Chicago and archives more generally, folding chairs, appropriate weather gear. © 2026, copyr...
A CALL TO ACTION: SAVE OUR NATIONAL ARCHIVES saveournationalarchives.org Our National Archives Are Being Taken Out of Public Reach On June 23, 2026, the National Archives and Records Administration quietly informed its own employees, not the public (NARA Notice 2026-037) of a plan to close the National Archives at Chicago and San Bruno, CA and to relocate their holdings to up to 12 different facilities spread across the country. The Chicago facility serves the people of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. San Bruno serves northern and central California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific territories. Tens of millions of Americans are about to lose their regional window into the federal records including the actual Immigration and Naturalization records from all these areas. This is not a routine matter of facilities management, and it should not be treated as one. The regional archives are not a real estate line item to be trimmed in pursuit of...