National Archives at Seattle

Plan Your Research Visit

Using Original Records
Using the Public Access Research Room

The National Archives at Seattle provides researchers the opportunity to view original records created by Federal agencies in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Because each record is a unique and irreplaceable piece of American history, researchers must follow certain rules, requirements, and guidelines in order to ensure the continued preservation of the records.

Research can be initiated by email, mail, or telephone. Please do not submit your request in multiple formats.

Our research rooms are open by appointment only. Each National Archives facility holds different groups of records. To make the most efficient use of your time, please email, write, or telephone us for a virtual consultation to make sure that the documents or the microfilm you want to see are available at our location.

We want to make sure that you have the best results possible. For that reason, it’s important to make sure that the records you’re interested in are available at our facility. We may also be able to help you identify a more specific range of records to examine or suggest additional records.

To view original records in our research room, please email seattle.archives@nara.gov or call us (206) 336-5132 in advance to schedule a visit and a virtual consultation.

When submitting an inquiry, include your contact information so we can reach out to you in case more information is needed. All requests are answered in the order they are received, regardless of the method you use to communicate with us. Please allow 10 business days for us to respond.

In order to answer your questions properly, please tell us:

Your topic of research and any specific information you are looking for within that topic.
What Federal agencies, offices, or individuals may have been involved and the time period you are interested in.
Details about the types of records (textual, photographs, maps, drawings, etc.) you are looking for so that we can pull records that fit those specifications are very helpful to staff members.

Using Original Records

This information is only a brief introduction to what you should expect when you are working with original records at the National Archives at Seattle. It is not a complete list of our rules and regulations. Before you can begin working with records, you will be required to complete the Online Researcher Certification.

Obtaining a Researcher Card

Before using our archival holdings, every researcher must present a valid Researcher Card issued by the National Archives at Seattle or another NARA facility. New researchers should plan for a total of 15-20 minutes to complete the registration process. To obtain a Researcher Card, an applicant must:

Schedule a Virtual Consultation with an Archivist to review your research material and ensure that your documents are available. A date for an onsite appointment will be given to you at that time.
Show official identification that includes a photograph. Acceptable IDs include driver’s license, passport, school and employment identification.
Complete the Online Researcher Certification. Bring a printed or digital copy of the Certificate of Completion the day of your appointment.
Complete a short form giving name, address, telephone number, and a brief description of the proposed research topic.
Review a short orientation binder emphasizing safe handling of records and explaining the most basic research procedures, responsibilities, and rules.
Your Researcher Card must be present during each research visit.
Renewing or Replacing Your Researcher Card
Your Researcher Card is valid for one year.
You may renew your card at our location.

If you forget or lose your Researcher Card, talk to the staff when you arrive on your next planned research visit. If your card was issued at Seattle, we may be able to issue you a replacement.

Before You Enter the Research Room

You must leave personal belongings in free, secure lockers. This includes bags, carrying cases, briefcases, purses, books, notebooks, and notepads.
You may bring in your own pencils and loose paper, or we can provide these for you.
Pens and highlighters are not allowed, nor are pressure sensitive notes, such as post-Its.
Pre-written notes must be on loose paper (not on a pad or in a notebook).

Inside the Research Room

Only paper, pencils, electronic tablets and laptop computers may be used for note taking.
When you are using records in the Research Room, you can sometimes make your own copies of both paper records and special media, such as photographs. Please talk with staff before beginning copy work.
Our self-service copier is available for $0.25 per page (up to 11 x 17 inches), payable by credit card or check. The copier can be used to make paper copies or digital scans. If you are scanning, you will need to provide your own flash drive/USB.
Personal Scanners must meet NARA requirements.
Cameras may be used to photograph documents, but flash photography is prohibited.
Our facility does not have a Wi-Fi (wireless access) network.
Eating, drinking, and smoking are not permitted in the Research Room.
Cell phones must be set to silent. Researchers need to step into the hallway to receive or make calls.
View a full list of allowed and prohibited items in our Research Room Guidance.

Tips for Handling Our Holdings

You are responsible for safeguarding the condition of the records that have been brought to you.
You may remove from a cart and open only one box or bound volume at a time.
You may remove and open only one folder from a box at a time.
The records should always stay flat on the table.
The records must be kept in the same order in which they are given to you. If folders in a box or pages in a folder appear to be out of order, do not rearrange the records yourself. Alert the staff instead.
Take care to avoid accidental damage to the documents. Never place your notepaper on top of a document you’re studying or use your pencil as a pointer.
Keep good notes as to records consulted. Doing this will help you differentiate between multiple groups of records searched and your steps can be retraced if necessary. If necessary, staff can show you how to properly construct a citation.

General Information

At this time, the Public Access Research Room is closed. There is no access to microfilm or public computers currently. Please monitor archives.gov/seattle for more information on when it will reopen.
You must leave personal belongings in free, secure lockers.
Our facility does not have a Wi-Fi (wireless access) network.
Eating, drinking, and smoking are not permitted in the Research Room.

Microfilm

Our microfilm collection is currently unavailable to the public. Please monitor archives.gov/seattle for more information on when that research room will reopen.
Each microfilm publication contains reproductions of records created by a federal government agency, the originals of which may be held at another National Archives facility.
Original records on microfilm in our collection include Federal censuses, naturalization and immigration records, and military pension records. To learn more about our microfilm collection, check out our Microfilm Holdings Guide. A growing body of records formerly available only on microfilm is now available digitally through the National Archives Catalog or through partner websites.
When we reopen for public use, we have three different types of microfilm readers available for use. Standard readers with no reproduction capabilities, two readers that are connected to printers, and one that is connected to a computer that can be used to download digital copies of pages from the microfilm.
Please note that we do not have all the microfilm published by the National Archives. If we do not have a microfilm publication, we may be able to get it for you from another NARA field site. For more information on this service, please contact us before your visit.

Public Computers

Currently, our Public Access Computers are unavailable. Please monitor archives.gov/seattle for information of when they will reopen for public use.

Research Assistance

Currently, Research Assistance is limited to virtual consultations, email or telephone. Please monitor archives.gov/seattle for information of when the research room will be staffed for public use.
For all research questions and appointment consultations, please email seattle.archives@nara.gov or contact us via phone at 206-336-5132.

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