Core elements of the U.S. Navy’s historical program are “at risk” according to a recent report by the U.S. Navy’s Inspector General’s Office released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The IG’s report on the inspection of the Navy’s History and Heritage Command dramatically reinforces concerns that scholars have had in recent years about the state of the navy’s history program. According to the report, released through a FOIA request by the National Security Archive, historical records and artifacts are housed in a precarious environment, and invaluable archival material is in danger. The History and Heritage Command’s leadership has not been using due diligence to ensure that naval commands and fleets are creating historical records of their ongoing activities. Moreover, according to the IG report, the Navy’s professional historians, archivists, curators, and librarians who work for the history command feel “disenfranchised” because of “their marginalization in decision processes and lack of advancement opportunity.”
Specific problems cited include damage to historical paintings, lack of accreditation to museums, a huge backlog of unprocessed archival collections, and lack of awareness that workers at the Naval Aviation Museum had been exposed to toxic metals. The IG did not make specific recommendations but advised the Navy leadership to establish a panel of historians to provide guidance on a “way ahead” for the program.
For background on the report and information on the crisis in the Navy’s history program, National Security Archive staffers John Prados and William Burr, and Larry Berman, dean of the Honors College at George State University, have prepared detailed comments. “Unredacted” invites further comments from our readers. (more…)
