This is one in a series of profileson the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Justice and Law Enforcement medal Kelly Maltagliati, special agent-in-charge for the National Archives and Records Administration’s Archival Recovery Team in the Office of Inspector General.

Thousands of historical documents have disappeared over the years from the National Archives-the patent for the Wright Brothers’ airplane, target maps of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Civil War telegrams written by Abraham Lincoln, a copy of FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech and NASA photographs from space. Keep reading →