I'm forwarding what I believe is a VERY important message! If the branches of the archives get closed down, that's OUR Texas Archives in Ft. Worth, too! I'm writing a letter to him & I hope you will, too! Bonnie ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vol. 14 No. 3 Florida Chapter Ohio Genealogical Society, Inc. Newsletter "John H Carlin, former Governor of Kansas an now the country's top archivist, is proposing a program to close all 12 of the regional archive locations. The regional offices are found in 1) Waltham, MA holds records for states of Conneticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; 2) New York, NY holds records for New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands; 3) Philadelphia holds records for Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia; 4) East Point, GA has records for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee; 5) Chicago, IL holds records for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin; 6) Kansas City, MO has records for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska; 7) Fort Worth, TX holds records for Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas; 8) Denver, CO holds records for Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming and some records created in New Mexico and Arizona; 9) Laguna Niguel, CA holds records for Northern California, Hawaii, Nevada (except for Clark County) and the American Samoa Islands; 11) Seattle, WA holds records for Idaho, Oregon and Washington; 12) Anchorage, AK holds records for Alaska. Carlin proposes to build two mega-archives, perhaps in Washington, DC and in either California or Kansas. The plan calls for all of the microfilm in the present archives to be deposited in university libraries and public libraries-neither of which has the space nor staff to accommodate the millions of researchers who use these regional archives. Presently the regional archives have trained, professional staff persons in place. If you wish that the archives system to remain as it is write to Carlin at: The National Archives, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. Remember-if you wait for someone else to write the letter it may not get done.