National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis Opens Agency Civilian Personnel Records to the Public

The following announcement was written by the National Archives and Records Administration:

ST. LOUIS, June 12 -- The National Archives' National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) opened more than 6 million individual personnel files of former federal civilian employees from the mid-1800s through 1951. These records will be of special interest to genealogists, family members, researchers, sociologists, and historians.

Among the records are the files of prominent individuals who worked for the federal government, such as Walt Disney, Ansel Adams, Eliot Ness, Calvin Coolidge, J. Edgar Hoover, Gifford Pinchot, Walker Evans, and Albert Einstein.

Ronald L. Hindman, Director of NPRC characterized these records "as a veritable treasure-trove of information for researchers and genealogists." He continued, "There are records from more than one hundred government agencies now available for discovery. They showcase the careers of government employees who investigated bootleggers; taught at Indian schools; worked in Japanese-American interment camps, in prisons, and on anti-prostitution boards, and created and implemented initiatives in Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal agencies, among others."

These documents open a window into America's past. Examples include:

• From the Bureau of Indian Affairs -- "The food the children had to eat was not clean. The school was dismissed at irregular hours; sometimes the children would not get home till half past five in the evening."
• From the War Relocation Authority -- a job description: "The qualifications of the registrant: the ability to assume responsibility in the management and operation of a large community and composed entirely of one isolated racial group under war conditions and in the face of adverse public sentiment is a highly essential qualification."
• From the Department of Justice -- a Prohibition Agent in the 1930s was found guilty of consuming liquor and shooting a bootlegger in the leg as the bootlegger tried to escape in his Model "A" Ford Coupe.

This opening of 6 million files adds to the existing collection of more than 9 million military personnel files that are already available for research and is another step in the creation of the largest archival repository in the United States outside the National Archives in the Washington, DC area. In late 2010, the records will be moved to a state-of-the-art repository on Dunn Road, in suburban St Louis County, Missouri.

To purchase a copy of a particular record, send a written request to NPRC, Civilian Personnel Records, 111 Winnebago Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118-4199. The request should include the requester's contact information, the former federal employee's full name, date of birth, name of employing agency, and period of employment. Copies of the records can be purchased for either $20 or $60, depending upon the size of the record. Most records will fall into the $60 range.

Once a request has been submitted, contact us at mpr.status@nara.gov with any questions.

Visitors to NPRC in St. Louis can make an appointment to view these records for free in the Archival Research Room. Visitors interested in doing so should call 314-801-0850 to schedule an appointment.

Comments

[juanita]

I love doing genealogy but I would like to know if the public records are from other states also. I get confused sometimes. Like what kind of records are there?

[Marilyn]

The records are of federal civilian employees: they will be from all the states, maybe even US possessions, as federal employees work anywhere there is a federal government entity. This is exciting, but I wish the records were digitized!

[Carolyn]

You can also get a lot of information from the FBI under the FOIA.
I sent away for info on a relative from the 1920's and a package as large as a book came back showing telegrams from the president to Edgar J Hoover and others regarding my person of interest. This was free.

[SKay]

How I wish I lived near St Louis!! All I can do at this point is cross my fingers and hope the LDS will get the records digitized...they share with everyone.

[Hal McCawley]

How does one search for names with the FBI?

[GMF]

My question would be this -- the Census records from 1940 are not yet available, why should the personal details of a former Federal employee be revealed before 75 years have passed?

There may be embarrassing items in such records and I seriously question their being revealed only 58 years later when the person himself may still be alive and undoubtedly many family members are alive.

[AW]

Did the author mean to say "internment" camps which means "to detain" instead of "intermet" which means "interring" or burial?

I agree with GMF that releasing Federal Civilian Employee Personnel records up to 1951 is premature. Many persons were just in their teens when they began working for the Federal Government. Someone born in 1930 would be about 79 years old now, with excellent chances of living into their 90s. They may have living children and grandchildren. These records include SSANs, DoB, and possible results of Background Investigations and Security Clearances. Will FBI and CIA Civilian Employee Personnel Records be made available simultaneously? Are the personnel records of employees in state and local government and private industry being released concurrently? Such records are not the equivalent of Federal Census Records; Federal Civilian Employee Personnel records are personal and private and should remain so for an indefinite period of time, but no less than 75 years after separation.

[Bari]

US Post Office workers are considered federal employees, as are those employed by the US Army, Federal Reseve Bank branches, and Census Takers.

[Bari]

I believe that WPA workers were also federal employees.