A federal judge temporarily stopped the sale of a National Archives building in Seattle, Washington.
In a written order filed Tuesday morning, U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour ordered a halt to the imminent sale of the National Archives building — and removal of its immense archival collection.
“Today’s legal victory blocks the federal government’s unlawful plan to sell the Archives and scatter the DNA of our region thousands of miles away,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a news release.
In January 2020, a five-person panel identified the archives building in Seattle — and 11 other facilities — as excess properties and opportunities for the federal government to cut costs.
The archives building houses a collection that includes historical documents and records for 272 federally recognized tribes in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The building also houses documents regarding the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Japanese internment camps of World War II.
A sale of the building could move the archive’s records as far away as Kansas City, Mo. or Riverside, Calif.
In January 2021, Washington state’s attorney general and 40 tribes, states and community organizations filed a motion to block the sale of the building.
It would be the second time that Alaska documents and records have been moved from a National Archives facility. In 2014, a building in Anchorage was closed, and the materials transferred to Seattle.
