The Obama Foundation and National Archives Announce ‘Ask the Archivist’ at the Obama Presidential Center
CHICAGO — The Obama Foundation and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) today announced a new joint effort to give the public even greater access and understanding of the work of President Barack Obama’s administration.
The “Ask the Archivist” program is a collaboration in which a NARA archivist will be on-site every Thursday from July 23 to October 8, 2026 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. CST at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center Branch of the Chicago Public Library to meet with visitors who have questions about researching presidential archives and the NARA-run Barack Obama Presidential Library’s digital offerings.
“The National Archives have been a tremendous partner to us as we work to illuminate the work of the Obama Administration at the Obama Presidential Center, particularly in the artifact lending program and digitization of records,” said Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett. “The ‘Ask the Archivist’ program is yet one more way we are making President Obama’s work accessible and transparent to the public.”
“We are excited to partner with the Obama Foundation to provide another avenue for public awareness and access to the records of the Obama Administration,” said Dr. Kenvi Phillips, Barack Obama Presidential Library Director. “Now visitors to the Obama Presidential Center can not only see some of the artifacts in the museum, they can also engage in-person with our knowledgeable archivists about our digital library holdings.”
The ‘Ask the Archivist’ program adds to an already-groundbreaking model for collaboration. NARA’s Obama Presidential Library has embarked on a groundbreaking digitization effort. Roughly 95 percent of the Obama Administration’s records were born as digital. Members of the public can find released records, artifacts, and more on the digital library. The Obama Foundation is providing more than $4.5 million in funding to support NARA’s efforts to digitize the remaining (physical) records.
In addition, a number of NARA-owned records and artifacts are on loan to The Obama Foundation and on display at the Obama Presidential Center Museum, allowing visitors to engage with presidential material as they do at NARA-run presidential museums.
For more information, visit Obama.org and obamalibrary.gov.
About The Obama Foundation
The Obama Foundation is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. That mission begins on the South Side of Chicago, where the Foundation is building the Obama Presidential Center. But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity. From every corner of the globe, our program participants are working together to address some of the biggest challenges of our time—from renewing our democratic institutions, protecting LGBTQ+ rights, fighting climate change, and so much more.
About The Barack Obama Presidential Library (NARA)
The Barack Obama Presidential Library is one of 16 libraries in the National Archives and Records Administration, a federally operated Presidential Library system. Presidential Libraries and Museums are repositories for each administration’s papers and records and preserve and provide access to historical materials, support research, and create interactive programs and exhibits that educate and inspire.
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Contact: Emily Bittner, press@obama.org