Senior archivist Dr. Greg Bradsher, National Archives at College Park.  National Archives photo by Susanna Raab

Legendary Archivist Likened to Professional Athlete—first time ever

“As archivists go, Greg Bradsher ’68 is retiring as a superstar, the Michael Jordan or Tom Brady of his profession.” The first sentence of the Oregon Stater feature “If an archivist can be a legend, he's it” may mark the first time an archivist has been likened to a professional athlete. On the eve of his retirement, it doesn’t get any better. Bradsher responded, “I was blown away.”

Last year, senior archivist Dr. Greg Bradsher received Archivist David S. Ferriero’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his impressive 42-plus-year career (watch video tribute here and below). After sharing the news with Bradsher’s alma maters, Oregon State University (OSU) and the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), Oregon Stater editor Kevin Miller called to say that he had pulled over to the side of the road en route to work to Google Bradsher. Asked what he found compelling, Miller responded, “Once I’d done some research of my own and conducted a long interview with Greg in which we both had fun and I learned a ton, the pressure was all on me to do his career justice. I’ve been writing profiles of people for 43 years now—15 of them in this job—and this is one of my top 10 favorites, for sure.” 

Bradsher’s stellar research skills, intellectual curiosity, humor, cordiality, and expansive knowledge contributed to his now-legendary career. As Bradsher’s colleague archivist Sylvia Naylor explained, “he is the perfect combination of scholar and archivist. His knowledge of the records never ceases to amaze me.” Although his expertise includes the American colonial era, the Homestead Act, and FBI records collections, he is reknowned for his work on records relating to Holocaust-Era Assets.

In 1996, at the start of the congressional investigation into dormant Swiss bank accounts and gold looted by Nazi Germany, Bradsher was asked to create a basic finding aid for the National Archives’ extensive collection of related World War II–era records. Given his intellectual curiosity and interest, this initial six-page document became a 1,166-page tome. The National Archives became the epicenter of Holocaust-related research, and he became the international point person on this issue.    

Read more online:

Kevin Miller’s Oregon Stater story UMass Amherst History Department’s story National Archives press release Bradsher’s National Archives Text Message blog posts

See Archivist David S. Ferriero's Achievement Awards Tribute Video: