State Department Records in the National Archives
- Introduction
- I. Central File (Record Group 59)
- II. Office Files, or "Lot Files" (Record Group 59)
- III. Foreign Service Post Files (Record Group 84)
- IV. Other Record Groups (for specialized topics)
- How to Access the Records
III. Foreign Service Post Files (Record Group 84)
Letter from Fidel Castro to President Franklin D. Roosevelt , 11/06/1940, page 1. ARC Identifier: 302040.
From Record Group 84.
The third main category of records, Foreign Service Post Files, are all of the records originally filed at American embassies and legations (arranged by country) and consulates (arranged by city). Correspondence between posts and the State Department duplicates the records in the Central Files in RG 59. Post records include other types of documents and correspondence with local officials and other posts.
Finding Aids:
- Special List 9, List of Foreign Service Post Records
- Preliminary Inventory 60, Records of Selected Foreign Service Posts
- Filing Manual, 1912-48 [4.54 MB download size]
- Filing Manual, 1949-63 [88.16 MB download size]
- Filing Manual, 1963-1973 [18.72 MB download size]
Draft inventories exist for many posts, and for the 1936-48 period there are lists showing the beginning and ending year and file number in each box.
Records
Letter from Fidel Castro to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 11/06/1940, page 2. ARC Identifier: 302040.
From Record Group 84
A. 1789-1912. Records are arranged by country or city, thereunder by type of record, thereunder chronologically.
B. 1912-1935. Records are arranged by country or city, thereunder by year, thereunder by subject according a a decimal filing scheme. Country numbers were not used, but the file numbers were similar to the Department's Decimal File scheme. Records in classes 000, 100, and 200 were destroyed in the 1950s.
C. 1936- Records are arranged by country, thereunder by type of office (embassy, legation, or consulate), thereunder by year, thereunder by subject according to a decimal file scheme or to the subject-numeric file scheme. For the World War II period, because of difficulties in communicating with the State Department, post files may be more useful than the central file for some topics. For the period after 1948 the only file categories are in class 300 (political affairs) and 500 (economic matters).
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