Advocacy and Outreach
As a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization, Friends of Arizona Archives serves as an advocate for Arizona's historical archives and their users.
FAzA brings attention to the poor condition of many of the state’s historical records, and to the risks such neglect poses to the study and preservation of Arizona’s history. It works to ensure that the public has full access to historical records, not only at the State Archives but also at local government agencies. And it supports adequate funding and staffing for the Arizona State Archives and other institutions with archival holdings.
FAzA Working to Restore
Hours
at State Archives
FaZA is urging Arizona's historical community to contact state officials and impress upon them the need to restore the Polly Rosenbaum Archives and History Building to a normal schedule.
Although operating hours at the State Archives were recently increased, the Archives are still open only twenty-four hours per week, which continues to pose a hardship to researchers and students.
"Research for my dissertation on Arizona women in politics was conducted primarily at the Arizona State Archives. In today's environment, a project of this nature could not be conducted." [read more]
Heidi Ossalaer
Author of Winning Their Place:
Arizona Women in Politics, 1883-1950
"Public access to State Archives is a crucial service to taxpayers. Every time I visit the Archives, I observe the staff assisting long-time Arizona residents, helping military veterans seek documentation of their service records, and working with lawyers researching property claims." [read more]
Katrina Jagodinsky
UA Doctoral Student
In March the State Archives were temporarily closed in response to the state's budget crisis. The building reopened in April, but only for eight hours each week, with researchers required to make appointments. Recently the hours were increased—it is now open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday—and the requirement for appointments dropped.
While this is good news, the reduced hours at the Archives severely affect many constituencies, not just historians. Poor access to state historical records poses a hardship for students who need to complete research projects for their degrees. It also affects people who are tracing their genealogy, military veterans who seek service documentation to prove benefit eligibility, lawyers researching property records, and a host of other people who at some time require access to public records.
What You Can Do to Help
Contact state officials and your legislators to advise them of the importance of this vital state institution. Ask that the regular hours of the State Archives be returned to forty hours per week.
Letters that describe specific instances of reduced access, or discuss how specific projects were affected by the reduced hours, are especially welcome.