PROLOGUE archives and genealogy. Their professional skills meet the highest standards, particularly in areas where guides to resources are limited. While seeking answers to specific questions, they often advise archivists about the records in their holdings and create lists and data bases of useful fonds (record groups) and series containing genealogical information. AROS is dedicated to getting the best answers in spite of the many problems their requests encounter within the archives. Archivists working under difficult and restrictive conditions lack guides and finding aids to records that are often scattered, mixed up, or missing. Most archivists also lack experience in methods of genealogical research and are building expertise as they work, with assistance from the AROS staff. Additional delays mount when they must correspond with regional archives, which is necessary for most requests. To help archivists search for information, the AROS staff is gathering archival guides, local histories, bibliographies, library sources, and other published materials to form a useful reference library at the AROS Moscow office for genealogical research. Members of the staff have made several visits to Ukraine and Belarus, meeting with the heads of the archival administrations and establishing contacts with individual archivists. Close collaboration now exists with the administration in Belarus and with the important regional archives of Kiev, Lvov, Kamenetz-Podolsky, Cherkassy, Kharkov, and others in Ukraine. During the first few months of RAGAS existence, communication between Washington and Moscow was slow and sporadic, dependent upon the services of mail, fax, and traveling friends. Both sides worked through the usual problems of setting up compatible computer systems (AROS had additional delays in getting the proper connections for a modem). In September 1992, communication was established by electronic mail. Special mention should be made concerning support by IREX in this project. Not only has IREX funded the exchanges of delegations, but it also provided the computer system and continues to support electronic mail communication that makes this service possible. The National Archives and ROSKOMARKHIV also provide invaluable support. Replies from the Russian side come in slowly, but each demonstrates the highly professional level of the AROS staff. That replies take longer than expected can probably be attributed to the political and economic disruptions currently handicapping the republics. The amount of information and the time needed to attain it also This family passport from the early twentieth century came from the Russian consular records at the National Archives. varies according to the receptivity and ability of archivists to respond. The problems encountered by the AROS staff in gathering information for fulfilling these requests have been complex, as genealogical research of this magnitude was never performed, or even allowed, during the communist period. Certain conditions work against reasonable retrieval of basic facts. Surnames were often changed to hide ethnic identity during uncertain times, and no record of the change exists. Those who might know of these changes may have died or been relocated. Place names of towns and districts have had several official name changes in the last seventy-five years and are often duplicated within a republic. Boundaries of countries have shifted, resulting in confusion in national identity. With these circumstances in mind, the RAGAS procedures for fulfilling a request follow this outline: 1. A request received by RAGAS in Washington is forwarded by electronic mail to AROS in Moscow within a week. The original, with any accompanying documentation, is gathered with others in a packet for transference by the next willing traveler to Moscow. The package arrives in Moscow within three to four weeks. The mail route seems to be unreliable and takes several months. 2. Electronic copy, received by AROS on the same day, is translated and recorded on a computer in the form of a genealogical chart. 3. The content is analyzed to determine the exact geographical location (region/district) J during tsarist times, since archival records are organized according to administrative division. The place is then related to the current location in terms of regions in the former U.S.S.R. This task can be detailed and time-consuming, requiring a search through multiple editions of published lists in libraries. The same geographical name is repeated often within republics. 4. AROS then composes and sends letters containing details of the request to archives of the region or regions identified (a central republic archive and/or a group of regional or local archives) and to the current local ZAGS (civic vital records) offices. More research is then required to identify fonds (record groups) that may contain specific information, as an aid to the archivists. There may be many problems at this stage. Useful reference finding aids and specialized published guides do not exist. Records within the archives are not organized as one may expect. For example, there is no national decennial census for the Russian Empire as there is for the United States. Census records are scattered in various fonds; church records are held in state archives, not churches, and these are also scattered. Many records were destroyed during wartime or were moved to other archives, and any record of their location has been lost. AROS continually monitors the reference process and advises the archivist of any new information concerning fonds, sometimes sending the request a second time to ДЕМИДОВСКИЯ ИНСТИТУТ ДЕМИДОВЫ РОДОСЛОВНАЯ росписъ Г ЕКАТЕРИНБУРГ 1992 The Demidov family history was compiled from records kept on Russian nobles. Above, their history and crest. the same archive. In addition, using information acquired from the former Soviet Archival Administration, AROS is helping archivists find records in the most important regions based upon work completed for previous requests. 5. The answers received from the archives and various other sources (libraries, museums, cemeteries, historical associations) to which the original inquiry was referred are compiled by AROS into a final report with extracts or copies of records, a genealogical chart, notes, and a map and are translated into English. A computer version is transmitted by electronic mail to the American side of RAGAS at the National Archives. A "hard" copy of the final report is delivered by a carrier and mailed to the requester by RAGAS. As soon as mail service from Moscow improves and is reliable, reports will be mailed directly from AROS in Moscow to the requester. The American researchers who have submitted completed request forms are pioneers in this unique and worthwhile endeavor to open the archives of the former Soviet Union for research in family history. Other fields in the social and natural sciences that can apply broad genealogical data bases to support academic studies in history, sociology, ethnology, medicine, and other areas will also benefit from these early individual efforts. Many of the lines dividing amateur genealogists from professional historians and scientists are blurred. Genealogists provide a valuable service to scholars by investigating and revealing The Central State Archive of Leningrad was one of the many churches converted into an archive. detailed facts, connections, and relationships of individuals and groups of individuals. They can give perspective to community life by finding and using unpublished journals, diaries, and reports. For example, a university medical school in Seattle, Washington, is tracing the path of Alzheimer's disease from a U.S. community through a community in the Saratov area back to its eighteenth-century sources in Germany. In another instance, immigration/emigration GENEALOGY EVENTS Washington, D.C. Genealogy workshops are conducted throughout the year. For up-to-date information, consult the monthly Calendar of Events. For a free Calendar, write to NXI, National Archives, Washington, DC 20408. Chicago, Ill. June 1, July 6, August 3, September 7, 1993. 9:30 a.m.noon. Workshop: "Introduction to Family History." National Archives-Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. June 9, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "Early Illinois." National Archives-Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. June 18, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "Beginners Practicum." National Archives-Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. June 30, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "Black Ancestry." National Archives-Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. July 15, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "Chicago's Ethnic Cemeteries: The Rites of Passage." National Archives Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. July 19, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "English Genealogy." National Archives-Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. July 29, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "Preserving August 16, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "The August 25, 1993. 9:30 A.M.-noon. Workshop: "Polish Genealogy." National Archives-Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. September 9, 1993. 9:30 a.m.-noon. Workshop: "Grandma, Where Are You?" National Archives-Great Lakes Region, 312-581-7816. $5 fee. San Bruno, Calif. June 18, 1993. 9 A.M.-1 P.M. Workshop: "Passenger Arrivals and Naturalization Records." National Archives-Pacific Sierra Region, 415-876-9009. $10 fee. August 13, 1993. Workshop: "Using National Archives Regional Sources: A Basic Workshop." National Archives-Pacific Sierra Region, 415-876-9009. $10 fee. patterns leading from Europe to Russia to the United States are providing new historical perspective on the motivation behind settlement patterns. These immigrants to America have retained cultural practices that are still evident in their communities today. Three scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, have published a study of the patterns and distribution of mortality in the parish records of Armenian churches from eleven countries spanning 242 years. The authors found that few accurate, official death registration systems existed prior to the twentieth century. Death and burial registries maintained by various churches were the major source for their study. A young American woman, gravely ill with cancer, was the subject of a search through the membership of Jewish genealogical societies. Hoping to find a compatible bone marrow donor, the societies tried to find descendants from common ancestors in the same Russian village. Several U.S. organizations have done outstanding work in determining research strategies for gathering information and collecting and publishing bibliographies of materials from immigrant communities with ties to tsarist Russia. Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy publishes comprehensive articles in every issue on the problems of researching the histories of Jewish families with Russian ancestry, and it continually adds detailed material to an information bank of sources for meaningful archival records. The journal's editor, Dr. Sallyann Amdur Sack, was a principal participant in the first Russian seminar on Jewish genealogy held in Moscow in July 1992. One result of the seminar was the creation of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Moscow, which joins a network of societies worldwide. Dr. Sack and Gary Mokotoff, publisher of Avotaynu, have also written one of the most valuable sources for unraveling the mystery shrouding the names of villages, towns, and cities in eastern Europe and Russia. Where Once We Walked is an essential resource for identifying and locating the villages and towns of Jewish ancestors." 3 Another resource for richly descriptive material is located in Fargo, North Dakota. Michael Miller, bibliographer at North Dakota State University, directs the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, one of the largest collections of books on the Germans from Russia in the United States and Canada. It is located at the North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies at the university. Mr. Miller, author of an annotated bibliography, Researching the Germans from Russia, is at the center of a nationwide network of symposia, lectures, conferences, and conventions linking organizations and individuals from this large group of immigrants.* As Mr. Miller describes it: "The story of the Germans from Russia has its beginnings in 1763 while Catherine II, a former German princess, was Empress of Russia. Finding herself in possession of large tracts of virgin land along the lower course of the Volga River in Russia, Catherine issued a manifesto inviting foreigners to settle in Russia, turn this region into productive agricultural land, and populate the area as a protective barrier against the nomadic Asiatic tribes who inhabited the region." One hundred years later, Tsar Alexander II "revoked the preferential rights and privileges" given to this group, which had grown to three thousand settlements, prompting a major emigration movement to the United States, Canada, and South America. Other important collections include the Library of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia located at Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Library of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society in Bismarck, North Dakota. A prolific writer and analyst of the archives and manuscript repositories in the former U.S.S.R. is Dr. Patricia Kennedy Grimsted, a research associate at the Ukrainian Research Institute and a fellow of the Russian Research Center at Harvard University. She is the author of an ongoing multivolume directory of archives and manuscript repositories in the republics and numerous articles, two of which are of particular interest to genealogical researchers. "Glasnost and Babushkas-New Horizons for Genealogical Research in the U.S.S.R.," was published in Heritage Quest, numbers 28 and 29, 1990," and "Intellectual Access and Descriptive Standards for Post-Soviet Archives: What Is to Be Done?" was published by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) in 1992.7 Dr. Grimsted is a member of the RAGAS Advisory Board, which also includes Dr. Wesley NOTES 1Haroutune K. Armenian, James F. McCarthy, and Sevan G. O. Balabanian, “Patterns of Mortality in Armenian Parish Records from Eleven Countries," American Journal of Epidemiology, 130 (1989): 1227. 2Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy is published quarterly by Avotaynu, Inc., 1485 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Gary Mokotoff and Sallyann Amdur Sack, Where Once We Walked (1991). *Michael M. Miller, comp., Researching the Germans from Russia (1987). Fisher, who expertly guided and supported this project for IREX. Other members include representatives of the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, The Germans from Russia societies, the Jewish Genealogical societies, Russian-American organizations, and the Armenian Genealogical Society. The success of RAGAS is due to the hard work and investment of time by members of the National Archives Volunteer Association who formed a research and development task force to initiate the service and by other members who now perform necessary support services to keep the work flowing smoothly. As responses are returned to RAGAS from Moscow, this group will create a data base from sources reported in the queries and produce a useful finding aid or reference tool for future researchers. For best results, a researcher requesting family history information from AROS should provide as much detail as possible, particularly exact geographical locations, family names, dates, and civil or military designations. Consult libraries, genealogical and historical societies, and other repositories for background information on the history of the area from which your ancestor came. For further information and forms, write to RAGAS, Box 236, Glen Echo, MD 20812. We Americans have learned to expect the record to be there for the asking. We take for granted the liberal access we have to our archives, court houses, and other repositories. We may establish links to the past without fear of reprisal; the names of places and boundaries of states are unchanging; we may expect archives to be safe repositories. This is the gift of living in a democratic society that ensures individual rights under a government which is accountable to its people through open access to archives. AROS in Russia, with the help of RAGAS here, is sifting through the scattered records of centuries with that same openness and availability as a goal. "Miller, presentation at the Society of GermanAmerican Studies National Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 1990. "Heritage Quest is a genealogical journal published every two months by Leland K. Meitzler, Drawer 40, Orting, WA 98360-0040. 'International Research and Exchanges Board, 126 Alexander Street, Princeton, NJ 08540-7102. (IREX has moved its offices to 1616 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006.) ACCESSIONS AND OPENINGS he Archivist of the United States is authorized by law to accept for accessioning as part of the National Archives of the United States the records of a federal agency or the Congress that the Archivist of the United States judges to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the U.S. government. In addition, certain personal papers and privately produced audiovisual materials that relate to federal activities may also be accepted. Normally, only records at least thirty years old are considered for transfer; the chief exceptions are essential documentary sources of federal actions and the records of terminated agencies. Classified information accessioned into the National Archives will be reviewed when it becomes thirty years old. File series concerning intelligence activities, intelligence sources and methods, and cryptology dating after 1945 are not to be systematically reviewed before they become fifty years old. Priority is given to records of research interest and where there is potential for declassifying a significant portion of the information. Researchers should address any questions about recently accessioned, opened, or declassified records to the unit holding them and should bear in mind that other restrictions may prevent the release of some of the records though they have been declassified. RECORDS DECLASSIFICATION DIVISION The Records Declassification Division systematically reviews security-classified documents accessioned by the National Archives under the terms of Executive Order 12356, "National Security Information," effective August 1, 1982, and the implementing directive issued by the Information Security Oversight Office. RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF SHIPS Portions of the Secret Correspondence File and Enclosures, 1946, have been declassified (21) cubic feet). Contact the Suitland Reference Branch, 301-763-7410. (Record Group 19) RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF SUPPLIES AND General Correspondence Files, 1943-1950, 1952-1954, have been declassified (187 cubic feet). Contact the Suitland Reference Branch, 301-763-7410. (RG 143) RECORDS OF THE RECONSTRUCTION Rubber Reserve Company, Rubber Operations and Synthetic Rubber Program, Subject Files, 1942–1955, were recently declassified (204 cubic feet). Contact the Suitland Reference Branch, 301-763-7410. (RG 234) RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Declassified were "Atlas Accident," Subject Files, 1963-1968; Subject Correspondence File: Patent Applications, 1935-1961 (22 cubic feet). Contact the Suitland Reference Branch, 301-7637410. (RG 255) RECORDS OF THE AGENCY FOR Recently declassified at the headquarters level were country files from the Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras Sections, Latin American Branch, Operations Division, Office of Public Safety, 1955-1974 (3 cubic feet). Contact the Suitland Reference Branch, 301-763-7410. (RG 286) RECORDS OF THE NAVAL OPERATING FORCES Commander Naval Forces Germany, Subject Files, 1950-1952; and Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, Civil Affairs unit, Truk, 1944-1951, were recently declassified (14 cubic feet). Contact the Suitland Reference Branch, 301-7637410. (RG 313) RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE Recently declassified were Munitions Board: Office of Administration Management, Subject Files, 1945-1951; Vice Chairman for Production Requirements, Office of Programming, Subject Files, 1942-1953; Office of Priorities and Controls, Decimal Files, 1950-1953; Vice Chairman for Production and Requirements, Office of Support Materials Programs, 1941-1953; Office of Petroleum Programs: Minutes and Memoranda, 1947-1951 (67 cubic feet). Contact the |