Sun Editorial:

Treating history with care

National Archives should do a better job of securing important American documents

Monday, July 6, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

The National Archives in Washington is the designated custodian of many of this country’s most important documents. The original Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights are among its most famous holdings.

The Associated Press reported Sunday, though, that many other significant items that should be in the Archives are missing. These include Civil War telegrams from President Abraham Lincoln, presidential pardons and NASA photographs from space.

There are fears that a missing external computer hard drive with copies of records from the Clinton administration may have contained classified information.

It doesn’t seem possible that such gaffes could happen. One would assume that the Archives would have among the best security systems in the world given the importance of its holdings. That is clearly not the case.

Archives employees or researchers have made off with some items, but the disappearances of many other documents remain a mystery. This problem is occurring not only in Washington but also at other Archives facilities throughout the country.

What is tragic is that these documents are irreplaceable, creating needless gaps for anyone attempting to learn about America’s past.

The Archives’ inspector general, Paul Brachfeld, has taken some corrective measures by assigning a recovery team to attend trade shows and by soliciting the help of document dealers and researchers in an effort to recover missing items. One of the uglier aspects of collecting is that there are collectors, including museums, that have knowingly possessed stolen artifacts, feigning ignorance.

Clearly, what is needed is a more comprehensive look at the Archives’ security system as well as more thorough background checks of employees.

It’s hard to comprehend how we could have reached this precarious place regarding the safety of our most precious national treasures, another problem left over from the previous administration, but it needs quick attention and permanent fixes.