One day last month, Jason Chernesky was in his book-lined home office in Baltimore pushing through a dull but urgent piece of work: updating his résumé.
The University of Pennsylvania PhD holder had worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as one of the many professional historians attached to federal departments and responsible for researching each institution’s legacy and accomplishments and presenting that record to the public. As an expert in the history of child health-care issues, Chernesky felt his position at the FDA, which started in May 2024, was a “dream job.”
But now, like tens of thousands of other federal workers, Chernesky had been terminated as a probationary employee in February as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to remake the federal government.
Since that first round of cuts ordered by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service, events have moved in a high-speed blur. New executive orders and firings. Court-ordered rehiring and calls for judicial impeachment. Burned Teslas and angry confrontations between members of Congress and constituents. This was history in real time, Chernesky mused that day in his office. He was a historian, schooled and experienced in collecting oral testimony. His instincts kicked in.
“Let’s start capturing stories,” he thought.
Chernesky hopped on Reddit and posted a note to former federal workers: “I was wondering if any other recently terminated employees would be interested in forming an oral history project about our experiences coping with this drastic change in our lives and the federal government.”
His post got dozens of comments and hundreds of reactions within hours. Now the idea has crystalized into a national effort by professional historians to document the voices and stories of Americans affected by the federal workforce cuts. The project went live on March 4 with a form for interested federal workers and contractors to participate. About 320 potential interview subjects have already reached out, Chernesky said.
The urgency and ambition fueling the project is a testament to the importance of what the country is experiencing, said Beth English, the executive director of the Organization of American Historians (OAH), the main organization partnered with Chernesky on the project.
“This is about creating primary-source records to make sure that this moment is recorded for future historians,” English said. “People are going to be looking back 50 years from now and want to know what this moment was like.”