Just in case you haven't heard, the National Archives due to budget cuts is planning to cut all evening and Saturday hours at all of their research rooms. The time for public comment on this is almost over and they haven't heard from many of us in the genealogy community. I live in Oregon and don't get to DC very often but when I do, the evenings and Saturday are my most likely time to be able to do research. Last time I was there I was able to handle the actual land documents for my great-grandfather and his son including a sheepskin land claim document that the son had never picked up. I also was able to see and copy the original and complete Civil War files for my great-grandfather and the pension requests from the Civil War widows of his only two brothers. Another Widows file had original signatures from my direct great-great grandparents on one side and great-great-great grandparents on another line. The following message has links that allow you to sign a petition (it is really easy) and an easy way to let your Congressional Delegation know how you feel. This impacts the regional offices as well as the headquarters. Ann Smart Researching Stottlemyer, Gaver, Ambrose, Palmer, Summers, Hersberger, Remsburg, Wiles, Norris and other Frederick County ancestors. -----Original Message----- From: UpFront with the National Genealogical Society [mailto:upfront@ngsgenealogy.org] Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 11:25 AM To: NGS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [UpFront: NGS] UpFront with NGS - Special Issue - September 2006 UpFront with NGS The Online Newsletter of the National Genealogical Society Special Issue: from the Board of the National Genealogical Society NARA Budget Reduction & Saturday and Evening Closings :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- Please read ALL of the following information it is important to ALL family historians and genealogists. We must make our voices heard on both issues! Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, addressed the opening session of the FGS/NEHGS 2006 Conference in Boston on Thursday, August 31, 2006. He reiterated his position of open access to records which he spoke about at the NGS conference in Chicago. He also commented on the budget cut and the reduction in hours, staff, and preservation that this will automatically cause. Please contact your representatives in Congress and urge them to restore the NARA budget cuts. You can easily do this via email for your member of the House by going to http://www.house.gov/writerep/ or for both branches of Congress by going to http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ and entering just your zipcode . Following his remarks, Professor Weinstein was presented with a letter by the Chair of the joint NGS-FGS Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), addressing concerns about the proposed changes in the hours of operation for the Research Rooms at the National Archives. Very few are making their voices heard on this issue. This lack of response sends a loud signal to the Archives that this is not a serious issue and that closing the Archives (including regional branches) on evenings and Saturdays is irrelevant. The RPAC has recommended the following suggestions for the Archives to consider: 1) To accommodate the needs of those who need access on Saturdays, we propose that you close one other day per week. This would be at your discretion. Other archives often close Sunday and Monday. 2) Users who need evening hour access could be accommodated by opening the archives later in the day, again at your discretion. If you agree with the recommendations stated above, we are asking your support by immediately going on-line and adding your "signature" to our petition to substitute the hours of access and still help the archives to meet their need to consolidate their hours of operation. Before 8 September 2006, please go to: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FGS2006/petition.html (Case sensitive) If you would like to send your own personal letter, send it prior to 8 September 2006 and address it to: Regulations Comments Desk (NPOL) Room 4100, Policy and Planning Staff National Archives and Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20740-6001