National Security Archive Publishes Listings of
Unprocessed State Department Lot Files
Held at the National Archives
Historians Can Use Information to Help NARA Set
Priorities for the Release of Important Collections
The Problem of Unprocessed State Department Lot Files
One of the major primary sources for research on the history of U.S.
post-World War II foreign relations are the lot files of the Department
of State. These are either the files of particular offices--e.g.,
the country desk officer for Italy, 1947-50--or special files on a particular
topic, e.g., Berlin crisis contingency planning, 1961-63. Readers
of the State Department's Foreign Relations series know that the lot files
provide an important source for the editors at the Department's Historical
Office.1 While the State Department central
files--whether decimal or subject-numeric--are significant, the lot files
enable researchers to delve far more deeply into their subject.
During the mid-1990s, the National Archives released
a plethora of lot files. To a great extent, these releases reflected the
State Department's progress in reviewing for declassification important
collections of materials from the 1950s and 60s, progress that was required
under Congress's 30 years statute for the Department's records. In
the last few years, however, progress in releasing lot files has slowed
considerably. This is not because the State Department has delayed
reviewing its own papers; far from it. Departmental officials have
continued to review the lot files, making decisions along the way about
which documents need to be withdrawn on grounds of continuing sensitivity.
But the State Department does not have responsibility for final processing
of the lot files: withdrawing the still-classified items and replacing
them with the red-bordered pull sheets. That job requires staffers
with security clearances and the National Archives does not have enough
of them to do the job. Part of the reason is that the lot files are
getting larger in size. A more fundamental reason is staffing levels;
NARA has pulled staffers away from State Department records per se for
projects relating to the Interagency Working Group on world war II war
crimes. Whether the Archives will find ways to ensure appropriate
levels of staffing for the lot files remains to be seen. In the meantime,
NARA has a backlog of over 250 lot files that still require final processing.2
As a courtesy, concerned NARA officials have
made available to the National Security Archive a set of the Standard Form-258s
that describe the unprocessed lot files (SF-258s register the transfer
of records from a federal agency to the Archives). Each form is annotated
with NARA's Accession Number or Job Number, the numbers that begin with
"NN3." For the most part, the forms are arranged according to the
Department's functional and geographic divisions (e.g., Bureau of Intelligence
and Research or Bureau of African Affairs), although one group includes
the records of former officials, e.g., U.Alexis Johnson.
The National Security Archive is making these forms
available on its web site so that historians and other researchers will
have a more complete picture of NARA's holdings of State Department records.
Readers who are interested in the status of a particular lot file or want
to urge early processing of some of these collections can write to the
Initial Processing and Declassification Division, National Archives and
Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001.
ORGANIZATION OF SF-258 FORMS
A Administration
AF African Affairs
ARA Inter-American Affairs
C The Counselor
CU Educational and Cultural Affairs
D Deputy Secretary of State
DS Diplomatic Security
E Undersecretary for Economic Affairs
EA East Asian and Pacific Affairs
EB Economic and Business Affairs
EUR European and Canadian Affairs
H Legislative Affairs
HA Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
IGA Inspector General of Foreign Assistance
INM International Narcotics Matters
INR Intelligence and Research
IO International Organization Affairs
J/PM Deputy Assistant Secretary for Politico-Military
Affairs
L Legal Adviser
Loyalty Security Board
M Under Secretary for Management
NEA Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs
O Deputy Undersecretary for Management
OES Oceans and International Environmental and
Scientific Affairs
P Under Secretary for Political Affairs
PA Public Affairs
PER Personnel
PM Politico-Military Affairs
RP Refugee Programs
S/CCT Special Assistant to the Secretary and
Coordinator for Combating Terrorism
S/CPR Chief of Protocol
S/FW-COA Special Assistant to the Secretary
for Fisheries and Wildlife and Coordinator of Ocean Affairs
S/P Policy Planning Staff
S/PRS Office of Press Relations
S/WF Coordinator of U.S. Participation in the
World Food Conference
S/S Executive Secretariat
SCA Security and Counselor Affairs
SCI International Scientific and Technological
Affairs
T Undersecretary for Security Assistance
U Under Secretary of State
Conferences
Task Forces and Committees
Individuals
Foreign Service Posts
Notes
1. For example, see the sources listed in
<http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/frusXXII/sources.html>
or <http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/vol_xi/sources.html>.
2. For discussion of this problem at a recent
meeting of the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic
Documentation, see <http://fas.org/sgp/advisory/state/hac1200.html>.