Whose History Is It, Anyway?

"Newspapers may provide a rough draft of history, but archives are where the raw materials are stored," writes Celestine Bohlen. "And so when politicians start messing around with public archives, historians -- and, of course, archivists -- can be counted on to rise up in arms." She details the outrage of historians when former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in his final days in office decided to move the public records out of City Hall and into a private warehouse. And Giuliani isn't alone. President Bush has also taken controversial steps which limit public access to records from the presidential administration of his father as well as to records from his own term as governor of Texas.