The National Coalition for History (NCH) has endorsed a statement,  An Opportunity to Reform and Improve the Practices of the Archives of the United States. It was authored by three former presidents of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), Dr. Richard Immerman, Dr. Warren Kimball and Dr. Lloyd Gardner, and Dr. William Burr, a senior researcher at the National Security Archive. Dr. Immerman and Dr. Kimball are former chairs of the Advisory Committee on Historical Documentation for the U.S. Department of State. SHAFR has also endorsed the statement.

David S. Ferriero recently retired as Archivist of the United States after twelve years in office. The authors state, “This change in leadership offers an opportunity to appoint an Archivist with the scholarly credentials, archival experience, leadership skills, and commitment to promoting the creation and dissemination of knowledge that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requires.”

The statement identifies the numerous challenges facing the new Archivist and draws on the extensive experience of the authors in offering solutions to address them.