U.S. Archives misplaces history

Many documents and items are not well-tracked and go missing or have been stolen. By Larry Margasak The Associated Press WASHINGTON — National Archives visitors know they'll find the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the main building's magnificent rotunda in Washington. But they won't find the patent file for the Wright Brothers' Flying Machine or the maps for the first atomic bomb missions anywhere in the archives inventory. Some were stolen by researchers or archives employees. Others simply disappeared without a trace. Some records have been missing for decades from the archives' 44 facilities in 20 states and the capital, including 13 presidential libraries. "When I came here nine years ago, there was no acknowledgment that we had a problem," the... [read full story]                    

powered by