SAA Letter on Historical Advisory Committee Representative Dismissal

May 20, 2025—In response to the abrupt termination of Dr. Nance McGovern and the other statutory and at-large members of the US Department of State’s Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation, SAA President Derek Mosley sent the following letter to Ambassador Maria Brewer, Director of the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute:

Ambassador Maria Brewer
Director, Foreign Service Institute
U.S. Department of State
BrewerME@state.gov

Dear Ambassador Brewer:

As president of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), I write to express my alarm and concern about the abrupt termination without explanation of Dr. Nance McGovern and the other statutory and at-large members of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation (commonly known as the Historical Advisory Committee, or HAC).

SAA is North America's oldest and largest national professional association dedicated to the needs and interests of archives and archivists. SAA represents more than 6,200 professional archivists employed by governments, universities, businesses, libraries, and historical organizations nationally.

As the Department of State and the White House are surely aware, Congress established the HAC through the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1991, which is enshrined in US statute, 22 U.S.C. § 4356(a). That legislation stipulates that the HAC would comprise representatives selected by six scholarly organizations—the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the American Political Science Association, the American Society of Legal History, and my organization, the Society of American Archivists—and three at-large members. These six organizations are charged with advancing the public interest in government transparency via their critically important oversight responsibilities over the production of the legislatively mandated Foreign Relations of the United States series.

SAA selected Dr. McGovern from among a number of highly qualified SAA members following a rigorous selection process. There is no question about her expertise and qualifications, and she has been an exemplary member of the HAC for one full term and nearly half of a second term. Despite her competent and valuable service, the State Department’s White House Liaison capriciously terminated her appointment, leaving SAA without a representative on a committee that our membership highly values. We, therefore, request that you immediately reinstate Dr. McGovern and her colleagues for the duration of their terms. We also request a detailed explanation of Dr. McGovern and her colleagues’ terminations.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Derek T. Mosley
President
Society of American Archivists
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Contact your senators and representatives to make them aware of these terminations that impact the public’s interest in government transparency.