Research Services

The Commission of Fine Arts is pleased to make its files and resources available to the public. In order to best serve you, please observe the following procedures:

Reviewing Project Files

Project files may be reviewed by appointment only during regular business hours, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, EXCEPT on days when either the full Commission of Fine Arts or the Old Georgetown Board meets. Project files are NOT available for review the day before these meetings, as staff requires full access to the files for meeting preparation.

Requests to review files must be made in writing through mail, email or fax, for recent case files located in the Commission office. The written request must be received by the Commission staff at least two days in advance of visit. The request should include the address of the project being researched and the proposed date and time of the office visit. Researchers may initiate a request by telephone to ask questions or seek clarification about a specific project. A request made by telephone must be followed up with a written request in order to view the files. (See Contact Us for full contact information.)

Reviewing Minutes and Transcripts

The Commission of Fine Arts maintains a complete set of meeting Minutes (the official record of the meeting) from 1910 to the present. The Commission also maintains transcripts (an unofficial record of the meeting) for most meetings from 1949 to the present -- please call to verify availability of a particular date. Minutes and transcripts may be reviewed by appointment during regular business hours except on days the Old Georgetown Board and Commission of Fine Arts meetings are held. Photocopies of minutes and transcripts may be obtained upon request. (See Copying Costs.)

Minutes from January 2003 to the present are available in electronic format in our online archive.

Reproducing Documents

Researchers are welcome to view contents of case files and copies may be made of most documents. However, documents produced by private sector firms, especially architectural drawings and renderings that are copyrighted, may NOT be reproduced in any format without written permission from the firm that produced them or from the government entity for whom they were produced (per Section 102 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C., as amended on December 1, 1990). Reproduction formats include, but are not limited to, photocopying, photography, digitizing and tracing.

Larger documents, such as full-sized drawings, may be reproduced if the researcher obtains appropriate permission and agrees to pay the costs of delivery and handling incurred by the Commission of Fine Arts.

Examples of documents that MAY be copied include:

• Recommendation letters from the Commission of Fine Arts
  
  
• Transmittal letters from the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
  
  
• Photographs that have no copyright designation
  
  
• Newspaper or magazine articles
  
  
• Official documents produced by other government entities, such as the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service and the District of Columbia
  
  

Examples of documents that MAY NOT be copied (without permission) include:

• ANY architectural drawings, renderings and other supporting documentation produced by a private sector firm*
  
  
• Photographs that contain a notice of copyright
  
  
• Reports produced by private sector research firms
  
  

*This includes documents produced for any government agency. Researchers must obtain permission from the appropriate firm or agency.

Copying Costs

Payment for copying is required upon receipt of copies and the preferred method of payment is cash. We will accept payment by check only if the cost is over $10.00. We do not accept payment by credit card.

Tapes and Transcripts of Meetings

Public meetings of the Old Georgetown Board and the Commission of Fine Arts are taped on audio cassette, and a written transcript is produced for the Commission meeting only. Researchers may have access to the tapes no sooner than two business days after meetings. Tapes may be reproduced, if the researcher provides a blank cassette. To arrange to listen to, or reproduce a tape, please contact the staff.

The transcript of the full Commission meeting is available after the Minutes of that meeting are approved, usually the following month. Transcript pages may be reproduced, per the copy policy stated above. Please note that the transcript does not constitute the official record of the meeting.

Location of Case Files

The Commission office houses recent case files for Federal and District (CFA), Shipstead-Luce (SL) and Old Georgetown (OG) projects. Federal and District case files are kept for approximately seven years and Shipstead-Luce and Old Georgetown files are kept for approximately five years. All previous case files are sent to the Washington National Records Center in Suitland, Maryland and the National Archives in Washington.

Reviewing files stored at Washington National Records Center

Case files approximately seven years or older (CFA files) or approximately five years or older (SL and OG files) are transferred to the Washington National Records Center (WNRC) in Suitland, Maryland. The Commission of Fine Arts retains legal custody of these files, though WNRC has physical custody. After ten years at WNRC, all case files are transferred to the National Archives.

Researchers may access case files stored at WNRC by going to their facility in Suitland, or they may request that the files be sent to the Commission office. In either case, please contact the Records Officer at the Commission of Fine Arts (202) 504-2200 to make arrangements. For more information see Washington National Records Center.

Reviewing files at the National Archives

Once case files have been transferred to the National Archives, the Commission no longer has legal custody, and requests to review the files must be made through the Archives. Researchers may contact the Finding Aids Room at the National Archives at (202) 357-5411. The Commission of Fine Arts case files are located in Record Group 66. Records are pulled five times daily and researchers need a research card to view the records. Research cards may be obtained in room G29. For more information, see National Archives.