The Haunted Archives

Bob Cox follows up by pointing us to an editorial in The Nation on the archives relating to the soon-to-be-released 9/11 papers – read the entire editorial here.


The editorial says in part, “Bush’s move is part of a larger pattern of expanded White House secrecy, starting with its fight to conceal the names of members of the Cheney energy task force and continuing with the recent effort to prevent the 9/11 Commission from revealing such documents as the now-famous Presidential Daily Briefing of August 6, 2001. It’s true that all Presidents want to control access to their papers, but it’s the responsibility of the archivist to see that access is “free, open, equal, and nondiscriminatory,” as the Statement on Standards of the American Historical Association puts it.”


It also mentions, “Senate confirmation hearings are essential because Weinstein’s record, especially on access issues, is bad. His 1999 book The Haunted Wood has been criticized for its flawed handling of archival materials.”