PSB
| Tracking # |
F-2016-01199 |
| Submitted | Feb. 19, 2016 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Michael Best
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
Documents relating to the Psychological Strategy Board, which was formed on April 4, 1951 and composed of the Under Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the Director of Central Intelligence, or their designated representatives. The PSB was abolished on September 3, 1953 by Executive Order.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Michael Best
From: FOIA Request
Please provide a timeframe for the records you are seeking. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Requester Communications Branch
From: Michael Best
I am interested in the records between April 4, 1951 through September 3, 1953 since those are the beginning and end dates of operation for the PSB. I apologize if this was not clear from the initial request, however I assumed that it was implied by my providing those dates. In the future, I'll try to be more explicit to reduce workload for your Department. Thank you for your help.
From: FOIA Request
FYI –
Based upon the information contained in your communication, some or all of the records you seek may no longer be in the possession of the State Department. The majority of Department of State records (excluding passport and visa records) that are 25 years or older and considered to be permanent are transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in accordance with Title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 171.6. Accordingly, you should direct your request to:
FOIA Officer
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 3110
College Park, MD 20740
Telephone: (301) 837-FOIA (3642)
FAX: (301) 837-0293
E-mail: foia@nara.gov<mailto:foia@nara.gov>
http://www.archives.gov/foia/index.html
Do you still want us to process your request based on the aforementioned information?
From: Michael Best
If you could perform a very basic check to see if the documents were, in fact, transferred to NARA I would greatly appreciate it. I've looked through NARA's online catalog and while they do have many working files for the PSB it's not clear if all of the State Department PSB documents were transferred. Most of them are listed as NSC files, and there are far fewer listed as coming from the Department of State than I would expect.
If a perfunctory search indicates that all of the PSB files were transferred to NARA, then I will be happy to consider the matter closed and have my request withdrawn or closed (I'm not sure what the internal designation is).
Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.
From: Department of State
A fix is required to perfect the request.
From: Department of State
An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.
From: Knorr, Jonathan R
Dear Mr. Best,
This is in regards to your request for documents relating to the Psychological Strategy Board (PSB) from April 4, 1951 to September 3, 1953.
We searched our retired records tracking system and found 2 matching records for the PSB. The disposition of the records indicates that the 2 records were consolidated into 1 record lot number and transferred to the National Archives (NARA) on May 22, 1986.
In light of the above, would you like to consider this matter closed and we will administratively close out your request?
Lastly, please be advised that not all records are viewable in NARA's online catalog, so you may want to contact them directly so an archivist there can provide you with more specific information about what PSB records they have.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Knorr
State Department FOIA
This email is UNCLASSIFIED.
From: Michael Best
Thank you for your help and informing me of where the records have been transferred to. I am happy to consider the matter closed at this point, and will not object to the request being administratively closed.
Thank you again for all of your help, and have a wonderful weekend.
Michael Best