Dear Rich (if I may),

 An Apostille is, essentially an internationally accepted form of notarisation. Since different states and countries require various levels of authentication for notarisation Apostilles provide an international standard of validation which is accepted by the 118 countries to the Hague Conference on Private International Law. In the United States Apostilles are usually issued by the Secretary of State’s office of each state. As you are in Maryland I suggest that you view https://www.peoples-law.org/maryland-apostille-and-full-legalization-process-authenticating-maryland-documents-use-across [https://tinyurl.com/y25j7uer].

As a word of warning: there are on the internet many Apostille ‘services’ which promise to undertake the process of obtaining an Apostille for you--at obscenely high prices. I suggest you avoid them. Obtaining an Apostille is a reasonably simple process. which you can easily and inexpensively do yourself. I would also beware of any private researcher who says you can avoid providing an Apostille. Apart from the fact that research without one will be illegal the researcher will be limited in access to relevant documents.

An Apostille is not required if you deal directly with the Archive.

If you feel I can be of any further help please feel free to email me.

Best regards,

Frank Swartz