Thursday, May 8, 2014

#NGS2014GEN Genealogists’ Declaration of Rights

imageIn the opening session of the National Genealogical society 2014 annual conference, Jordan Jones announced the participation and support of the NGS in the Genealogists’ Declaration of Rights.

“We, the undersigned genealogists, in pursuance of our individual and collective rights as Americans, do hereby declare that genealogists possess the right to the pursuit of genealogical exploration through unfettered access to the records of our government; and we call upon our governmental representatives to recognize our rights.”

Previous to this declaration the document begins with a series of whereas clauses. One states “WHEREAS, the American people have recognized that the right to open government and unfettered access to the records of our government…enrich the lives of all Americans.”

The declaration goes on to list the things our representatives can and should do, such as preserving our freedom to access public records of our government.

Attendees were invited to sign the declaration.

I hope the entire declaration will soon be available online. Perhaps the Records Preservation and Access Committee, one of the declaration’s sponsors will place it on their website (http://www.fgs.org/rpac/).

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