![]() Three years after Leahy's death, Rod Exelbert, editor of a newly formed magazine, Information Management Magazine, decided that he would use the magazine as a venue for the creation of the Emmett Leahy Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Records and Information Management Profession. In September 1963 at the age of 52 Leahy suffered a stroke and died. What is frequently overlooked is that many key provisions in the Federal Records Act of 1950 were included in a proposal he submitted to the Budget Bureau in 1942. Of greater importance was the Federal Records Act of 1950, which for the first time established a comprehensive records management program for the federal government. One outcome of the task force that Leahy chaired was a movement to incorporate the National Archives into a new government organization, the General Services Administration. In 1948 his national visibility as a records management expert resulted in being invited to join the Hoover Commission on the Reorganization of the Executive Branch of Government and to head a task force on the reduction of records. After two years Leahy left Remington Rand to establish the National Records Management Council to promote records management. Later in 1945 Leahy left the Navy Department to join Remington Rand as National Sales Manager for Microfilm and a records management consultant. Leahy also was an "evangelist" for the use of microfilm to reduce the volume of paper records, such as engineering drawings required for repair work on navy vessels. In September 1941 Ed Leahy transferred to the Department of Navy where he became the Director of Records Administration. Buck, who became the second Archivist of the United States in September 1941, both Brooks and Leahy initiated activities called records administration that eventually became records management. Among others, Emmett Leahy began calling for the engagement of archivists to promote good records administration early in the life history of records, long before records would be eligible for disposal or transfer to National Archives. Very soon both the Deputy Examiners and Special Examiners recognized that the disorganized state of records in federal agencies made it very difficult and time consuming to identify permanent and useless records. The task of Special Examiners was to identify records of useless value that the Archivist of the United States would submit to the United States Congress for approval of destruction. One group of examiners, called Deputy Examiners, was charged with identifying records of permanent value. ![]() Under the National Archives Act of 1934 the Archivist of the United States was authorized to deputize examiners to examine records in federal agencies. When our good friend Charles Dollar presided as the former Chair of the Emmett Leahy Committee, he often started off his introductory remarks by saying: “Many of you may not recognize the name Emmett "Ed" Leahy and may be wondering, who is this guy and why is there an award bearing his name?’” What follows is an abridged version of remarks Charles previously made at an Emmett Leahy award ceremony, which I think remain appropriate to remember and recite here:īorn in 1910 in Washington, DC, Emmett Leahy's first day on the job was July 22, 1935, when he was assigned to work as a "Special Examiner" of records of the Treasury Department. Trudy, thank you for your willingness to travel to Hong Kong to take part in being master of ceremonies on this wonderful day where we honor Simon Chu. I wish first to especially thank Trudy Peterson, the former Acting Archivist of the United States, and the winner of last year’s Emmett Leahy Award. Leahy Award to Simon Fook-Keung Chu for his Outstanding Contributions to the Records and Information Profession. It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to the presentation of the Emmett J. ![]() Baron, and I have the honor of holding the title of Chair of the 2019 Emmett Leahy Award Committee. ![]() To all the attendees at today’s very special, prestigious gathering: ![]() WRITTEN ADDRESS READ AT THE EVENT IN HONG KONG: ![]()
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