SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2023 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 734
Celebrating the life of Gerald K. Haines.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 20, 2023
Agreed to by the Senate, February 22, 2023

 

WHEREAS, Gerald K. Haines, a highly respected historian who served the nation as an archivist and a historian for several United States agencies, died on April 8, 2022; and

WHEREAS, Gerald “Gerry” K. Haines grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Mackenzie High School, where he was a standout multisport athlete; he attended Wayne State University on a baseball scholarship and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the institution; and

WHEREAS, Gerry Haines taught high school in the Detroit area, then earned a doctorate in United States diplomatic history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, moved to Arlington, and began his long and distinguished career in federal government in 1974 as an archivist at the National Archives; and

WHEREAS, during his tenure at the National Archives, Gerry Haines specialized in records related to the U.S. Department of State and participated in a major task force that reviewed and evaluated Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records; and

WHEREAS, over the next several years, Gerry Haines served as the historian at the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and he became the first chief historian of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and authored the first official unclassified history of the agency; and

WHEREAS, Gerry Haines returned to the CIA in 1997 as chief historian and retired from government work in 2005; during that period, he joined the University of Virginia’s history faculty as an Officer in Residence and began teaching courses on the history of the United States’ intelligence work and Latin American history; his classes were some of the most popular history courses at the institution where he continued teaching until 2013; in addition to teaching, he was a founding member of the “Haines Seminar,” an informal gathering of historians that continues to meet regularly; and

WHEREAS, over the course of his career, Gerry Haines wrote many comprehensive books and articles, classified histories for multiple intelligence agencies, and award-winning reference guides for State Department special files and the FBI records and classification system; and

WHEREAS, Gerry Haines also promoted history programs among federal agencies as a member and president of the Society for History in the Federal Government and as a founding member of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations; in addition, he helped establish the National Archives Assembly and advocated for the independence of the National Archives; and

WHEREAS, after his well-earned retirement, Gerry Haines offered his wisdom and expertise to the Arlington Historical Society, serving as vice president and as a member of the board of directors; and

WHEREAS, Gerry Haines brought joy to others through his sense of humor, his enjoyment of art, his talents as a chef, and his beautifully decorated Christmas trees; he loved spending time at his farm in Madison Heights, named Winchcombe as a tribute to his family’s English origins, and worked diligently to protect and preserve the land for future generations; and

WHEREAS, Gerry Haines will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 52 years, Joanne, and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Gerald K. Haines; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Gerald K. Haines as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.