NARA Turns 40

On April 1, 2025, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) turns 40. Visit the National Archives History Office website for more information on the history of our agency. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation establishing the National Archives on June 19, 1934. For its first 15 years, the National Archives operated as an independent agency with the Archivist of the United States being appointed by the President. Then, in the late 1940s, the Commission on Organization.