A Green Light for Prologue
Winter 2017–18, Vol. 49, no. 4 | Pieces of History
Memorandum to the Administrator of the General Services Administration concerning “NARS Proposed Scholarly Journal,” December 7, 1967. (National Archives, RG 64)
In this issue, the last print edition of Prologue, we have looked at the history of the magazine and how it has evolved over five decades. Our featured “piece of history” on this page reaches back 50 years ago to Prologue’s origin.
A General Services Administration (GSA) memorandum signed on December 8, 1967, gave the official go-ahead to the National Archives and Records Service (NARS) to start up a scholarly journal. The proposal from Archivist of the United States Robert H. Bahmer stated: “The proposed journal (yet to be titled) would be used by NARS as a means of communicating to the archival profession and to historians . . . , but also to the amateur historians, advanced history students, and history teachers in secondary schools.”
The GSA’s Assistant Administrator for Administration forwarded the proposal to the GSA Administrator and recommended that he approve the publication. With the signature of Administrator Lawson B. Knott, Jr., Prologue was launched.