§ 3-02 Municipal Archives Guidelines for Archival Use of Board of Education "Anti-Communist" Case Files.
RCNY § 3-02
A. The Municipal Archives preserves and makes available for research historical records of the New York City Board of Education ("the Board"). This collection includes several records series (nos. 590, 591, 593, 594, 595, 596 and 597) that pertain to the "anti-Communist" activities of the Board from the 1930s through the 1960s. They contain personal and confidential information relating to teachers and other school personnel investigated and/or questioned by the Board for alleged support of or association with the Communist Party. The individuals who are the subject of these files have a privacy right regarding information of a personal nature contained in them; this includes a privacy right regarding the fact that the subject case file exists. B. The regulations governing public access to all archival material are set forth in 49 RCNY § 3-01. In addition to those regulations, public access to the "anti-Communist" case file series is governed by the following additional regulations and/or procedures: (1) Researchers who request access to a specific file for the purpose of researching the views or activities of the individual who is the subject of that file or of another individual named in that file must obtain permission for such access from the subject individual and from the named individual, as applicable. If the subject or named individual is deceased or unable to give or deny permission, such permission must be obtained from the individual's legal heirs or custodians, as specified in forms MA-101A, MA-101B, and MA-101C.
(2)Researchers engaged in more general research not limited to a particular individual or individuals may access files in the restricted series upon certifying that they will neither record nor use any names or personally identifiable material obtained from such files, form (MA-101D).
(3)When a researcher accesses a file with permission from the individual who is the subject of that file, the Archives will redact the names of other individuals in the file whose permission has not been obtained.
(4)Self-service photocopying is not available for anti-Communist case file documents. All photocopies will be redacted to remove information identifying any individual whose permission has not been obtained.
(5)Published materials and materials created for general distribution, such as newspaper clippings and press releases, are not subject to the restrictions set forth in this section.
