Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Birth of the National Archives

"FDR I’m convinced was a closet archivist himself. He called the Archives his baby. He designed a box to house his papers which is the prototype of the boxes we use now at the National Archives. From the very beginning the intent was that the American people needed to be able to access the records in order to hold the government accountable for its actions. And that’s what 'keeping' means.” Listen to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, talk about FDR and the beginnings of the US National Archives.