Prologue Magazine

The A-Files: An A-Files Advocate

Spring 2013, Vol. 45, No. 1

“My dad passed away several years before I began to research my family history. He never talked about his immigration experience. When I searched for his records at the National Archives, his file was empty except for a note with his A number,” says Jeanie Low of San Francisco, California.

In 1992, Low filed a Freedom of Infor- mation Act (FOIA) request for her parents’ A-Files. “Just before Christmas, two large envelopes of photocopies arrived, each with over one hundred documents for each parent. They were bittersweet gifts from the government. My dad’s A-File, dating from 1931–1974, contained a photo of him as a 14-year-old immigrant. . . . [T]he A-Files were the missing link to our family history.”

With this personal knowledge of the A-Files, Low joined the efforts of Save Our National Archives (SONA) to secure permanent status for the records. “The A-Files reflect the ethnic diversity of the United States from the 20th century onwards,” she says. “They are individual stories that show the political and economic conditions that influenced decisions to immigrate, and how people are impacted by changes in immigration policy.”

Low shared with the authors materials from the Save Our National Archives (SONA) organizational files, which have been donated to the Ethnic Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Articles published in Prologue do not necessarily represent the views of NARA or of any other agency of the United States Government.

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