Around 170 scholars and community members oppose the proposed closure of the San Francisco National Archives office, which holds important records on the history of the two Samoas.
The Samoa Observer reports that David Aiona Chang, a celebrated Native Hawaiian historian, author and Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota, said thousands of records concerning American Samoa and Samoan history are held at the facility.
He said the records allow people to explore many aspects of life in American Samoa, including life in villages, the operations of the U.S. Navy, the policing and imprisonment of Samoans by Americans, immigration to American Samoa, migration from American Samoa to the States, health, agriculture, and other topics.
Among the records are “Alien Case Files” on individual Samoans who migrated to the United States and Civil Works Project Files, 1948–1978.
Chang also highlighted Census Returns which include returns from 1900, 1903, 1908-1909, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1926, and 1945.
Chang said military records would likely be transferred to a National Archives location in Riverside, California, while immigration records would likely be moved to Kansas City, Kansas.
“There would likely be a long delay between their leaving San Francisco and their being available in Riverside, so that could mean years when the records are not available,” Chang said.
He said Kansas City is much farther from Samoa and more expensive to visit, adding that some records may not be readily available to researchers and the general public.
“There is a lot of uncertainty and transparency in the whole process,” Chang said.
