Office of Records That Should Not Exist

Archival Folder Cataloged as the Continuity and Prior Events Act of 1908

EV-1908-0 IN CONTROLLED CUSTODY CAP Rev. 12.4

Material

Buffered board, cotton tape ties, one adhesive catalog label

Approximate manufacture

Consistent with archival supply manufactured after 1985

Approved invention date

1908, inherited from the description of the contents

Recovery date

Not applicable. The folder has not left Bureau custody.

Administrative age

-118 years, pending reconciliation

Current location

Vault 1, Office of Records That Should Not Exist, shelf position 0

Custodial office

Office of Records That Should Not Exist

Public impact

Level 3, Administrative

Entered register

August 20, 2026

Description

The item is one archival folder. The folder is cataloged as the Continuity and Prior Events Act of 1908.

The catalog record is complete. Every required field is populated.

1. Record identifier: EV-1908-0.
2. Title: Continuity and Prior Events Act of 1908.
3. Date: 1908.
4. Extent: 1 folder.
5. Level of description: Item.
6. Scope and content: The Act.
7. Conditions governing access: Open.
8. Conditions governing reproduction: None stated. Reproduction has been attempted.
9. Physical characteristics: Buffered board, cotton tape ties, one adhesive label. The label carries a second line: ████████████████
10. Source of description: The folder.
11. Cataloger: Office of Records That Should Not Exist.
12. Date of description: 1908, revised 2026.

Chain of custody

1. 1908. The folder is described as accessioned. The accession register for 1908 has not been located.
2. 1908 to 1985. The folder appears in every shelf inventory taken in this period.
3. 1985 to 1990. Rehoused during a preservation program. The original folder was replaced. The replacement folder retains the original date of description.
4. 2026. Cited in HAEB-1908-NULL as the earliest physical evidence of the Act.

Administrative age is computed as the year custody commenced, less the year of the governing inventory record. 1908 less 2026 is negative 118.

Examination

The folder was opened in the presence of two witnesses from the Office of Internal Historical Affairs.

1. The folder contains no document.
2. The tape ties show wear consistent with regular opening.
3. No fragment, staple, fastener, or offset impression was found on the interior board.
4. The interior board carries no adhesive residue.
5. The catalog record was compared against the folder and found accurate in every field.

Acting Director Elias P. Thorne declined a recommendation to add the word empty to the scope and content note. The Office describes records.

The Office does not maintain a field in which the absence of a described record can be recorded.

The finding is that the record is complete.

Disposition

1. RETAIN in Vault 1, shelf position 0.
2. The folder may not be refoldered. Refoldering requires the transfer of contents.
3. The folder may not be deaccessioned. Deaccession requires a statement of what is being removed.
4. Requests to consult the Act are approved. Conditions governing access are Open.

The Act has been described since 1908. The description has never required amendment.