In the movie “National Treasure,” clever thieves steal the original of the Declaration of Independence from the National Archives — the federal office charged with collecting and preserving documents and items of national historic significance and making those things available to the public.
The movie is far-fetched, dealing as it does with the hunt for a secret stash of Masonic treasure. But in light of a recent report from Washington, “National Treasure” cuts a little too close to the truth about the vulnerability of the National Archives to thieves.
According to Paul Brachfeld, inspector general at the Archives, the agency has been bleeding irreplaceable papers and other items for years.
Some of the things have simply disappeared, others have been stolen. Among the items stolen were:
F 71 pardons signed by Presidents James Madison, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes and Abraham Lincoln. A former employee of the Archives has pleaded guilty to the thefts. Fifty-nine of the documents were recovered from dealers and collectors.
F 100 Civil War-era documents stolen by a researcher between 1996 and 2002. Fewer than half were recovered.
F 160 Civil War documents taken by an intern. The Associated Press reports that about half the documents, including telegrams about the troops’ weaponry, the War Department’s announcement of Lincoln’s death sent to soldiers and a letter from famed Confederate cavalryman James Ewell Brown Stuart, were sold on eBay.
Other items that may have been stolen or simply lost include the patent file for the Wright brothers’ first successful airplane and the targeting maps for Hiroshima and Nagasaki used for the missions to drop atomic bombs on those cities.
As a percentage of the total holdings of the National Archives — 9 billion documents — the thefts and losses are not that big. But considering that each document is unique and has historic significance, the losses are not acceptable.
Brachfeld has a team dedicated to recovering missing documents, but that team just reacts to the thefts, it does not stop them.
The National Archives cannot lock its holdings up in a vault and throw away the key, but it does need better ways of keeping track of its documents and supervising the people who have access to them.
Someday, Brachfeld’s team may have to go out looking for the Declaration of Independence.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor
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Posted by create (anonymous) on July 3, 2009 at 5:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
But how do you test people's scruples? It would seem that everybody has a price. Stronger punishment?
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