The Presidential Archivist

I'm off to the Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting this week, in Chicago, Illinois. I recently renewed my membership, but I wonder if this guy renewed his for the final three years of his life?

February 13, 1942

Dr. R. D. W. Connor, President
The Society of American Archivists
Chapel Hill
North Carolina

My dear Dr. Connor:

May I tell you how very much honored I am by my election as an Honorary Member of the Society of American Archivists?

I need not tell you of my lifetime interest in the building up of archives throughout the nation -- especially because of my own personal interest in the naval history phase and the local Dutchess County material.

At this time, and because of the conditions of modern war against which none of us can guess the future, it is my hope that the Society of American Archivists will do all that is possible to build up an American public opinion in favor of what might be called the only form of insurance that will stand the test of time.

I am referring to the duplication of records by modern processes like the microfilm so that if any part of the country original archives are destroyed, a record of them will exist in some other place.

This involves, of course, a vast amount of work because of the volume of federal, state, and local archives of all kinds -- but I think that a broad plan would meet with hearty public support if it could be properly publicized.

The Society can count on my continued support in the fine work which it is doing.

Always sincerely,

Franklin D. Roosevelt

NOTE: The National Archives were created in 1934. That same year, Dr. Connor became the first Archivist of the United States. In 1939, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library was opened, the first of the presidential libraries, which are now part of the National Archives Presidential Library System.