Recently I read “Business History Resources in the National Archives” by Meyer H. Fishbein. This article was a great overview of the resources available to business historians at the National Archives. It basically described the business related records available in most of the major record groups. Published in 1964, Fishbein thoroughly explained what was in the records thru World War II.
Considering that World War II records had only been created twenty years earlier, I was borderline surprised that some of these records had been processed. While I am aware that not everything could be sent to the archives for various security reasons, there was still processed material available in the 1960s. It is now 2011 and I do not research anything past World War II because things are so rarely available and often unprocessed. I think this article is a great example of the great speed in which archivists processed records in the early years. I cannot give one reason why this occurred. It probably was a combination of vigor and funding.
The full house at the National Archives in Washington, DC on Friday is proof that there is a definite demand for records. I guess that these days, it’s a lot harder to meet the demand.
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