SEATTLE — In a letter dated Feb. 25, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson outlined his reasons as to why the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) should reverse their decision to close the Federal Records Center in Seattle.
It was announced in January that the National Archives Center would close its Seattle facility, pending sale.
Officials say the sale of the building on Sand Point Way will take up to 18 months and have requested to stay in Seattle for three years after. No immediate action will be taken to affect patrons seeking access to archives and records.
The records center houses 56,000 cubic feet of northwest history in records. Those records hold particular significance to populations in Washington state that have been historically under-served.
Ferguson wrote that the OMB and PBRB failed "to consider the unique historical nature of the archives location and the importance the records hold for tribes and native corporations in the Pacific Northwest as well as the local Chinese-American and Japanese-American communities."
The letter claims that the agencies never considered the impact that moving documents would have, particularly ones relating to tribal treaties, Japanese internment and the Chinese Exclusion Act. The letter said the decision was made "without consulting with local, state, or tribal officials."
Ferguson went on to say that if the agencies had been consulted, then it would have discovered that the land the building sits on was once owned by a Japanese American who lost that land during internment in the 1940's
"Because of one injustice, the land was taken away and because of another, the archives are being taken away as well," said Natasha Varner, the communications and public engagement director of Densho.
Densho is based in Seattle and is an organization that archives and documents the Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during the internment.
Varner says Densho worked with Ferguson to share the history of the land the archives is on. She said staff were shocked and saddened by the news of the decision to close the archives.
"When it loses archives like this, the community and state loses the ability to tell its own story about its history," said Varner.
Along with siting a disservice to various populations in the Northwest, Ferguson also called the decision illegal and is in violation of Executive Order 13175. That order is from the Obama Administration and requires government entities to consult with tribal communities when considering any measure that may impact them.
Ferguson wrote that he hopes to meet with the OMB and PBRB before March 18. While he wrote that he would like to avoid litigation, his team is preparing legal action if the decision is upheld.
Read the full letter below:
