About
The new DADT Digital Archive, at DADTArchive.org, is the largest and most comprehensive online collection of archival material related to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” issue. While a significant portion of the new online archive has already been uploaded and is currently available for public access and use, additional content is still being gathered, organized, and uploaded to further expand the collection.
Background
Other collections of material related to the DADT issue elsewhere on the web are either outdated, exclusive to one niche organization, and/or incomplete. For a variety of reasons, no single, authoritative, user-friendly collection of information and resources related to the DADT issue existed until Servicemembers United began consolidating DADT-related materials into one comprehensive, easily navigable online collection.
The Collection
The DADT Digital Archive is a comprehensive and authoritative collection of archival related to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as both statutory law and regulatory policy. The collection is divided into five substantive categories for intuitive searching and retrieval of information.
The “Executive Materials” category contains archival material that originated with or is sourced in the executive branch of the federal government, including the Department of Defense. The category includes executive orders, press statements, service regulations, and executive branch studies and reports. The category also contains a unique and exclusive collection of all available cases from each service’s Discharge Review Board and Board for the Correction of Military Records in which homosexuality was the (or a) major issue.
The “Legislative Materials” category contains archival material that originated with or is sourced in the United States Congress. The category includes laws and bills; video, audio, and transcripts of congressional hearings; congressionally initiated studies and reports; and press statements by members of Congress.
The “Judicial Materials” category contains archival material that originated with or is sourced in the federal courts. The category includes complete or nearly complete case files for current DADT-related cases, resolved DADT-related cases, and pre-DADT cases that dealt with issues proximate to the DADT issue. Where available, the category also includes audio and/or video from judicial proceedings and press conferences, court transcripts, and studies and reports on topics of judicial import.
The “Academics” category contains archival material that originated with or is sourced in academia. The category includes scholarly books, articles, and datasets, and academic studies and reports on the issue.
The “Advocacy” category contains archival material that originated with or is sourced in the activist and interest group community for the DADT issue. The category includes discharge statistics, public opinion polling, information on advocacy organizations, studies and reports from advocacy groups, prominent pro-repeal supporters and op-eds, prominent veteran activists, and books and documentaries on the DADT issue.
Acknowledgements
We would like to sincerely thank the following individuals for their contributions to this project, and the following foundations for their generous support:
Jeff Carnes, Annie Malknecht, Stephen Vossler, Devin Boilard, Jon Martinez, Al Steinman,
The Arcus Foundatoin, and The Bohnett Foundation
