By Jerrod J. Grill, Archives Technician in the Digitization Division at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland A little about Jerrod – Born deaf and bilingual in American Sign Language and written English, Jerrod is a graduate of the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick, MD. While attending Gallaudet University … Continue reading Deaf Historical Sites in the National Register of Historic Places
In late 1948, the Women's Club of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, decided to devote one of its programs to developments in the field of communications over the previous half-century. To secure information to facilitate that discussion, on October 19, Lucille Robb wrote to the Department of State's Office of Transport and Communications asking for information on the … Continue reading A View of Telecommunication in 1948: Past, Present, and Future
An earlier post discussed the collapse of the French attempt to initiate a film festival at Cannes in 1939, due to the outbreak of World War II. Getting that festival off the ground was an early priority of the French government once the war ended in Europe in May 1945 and planning for resumption of … Continue reading The Show Must Go On. Take 2 At Cannes, 1946.
In January 1942, shortly after the United States was thrust into World War II by the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent December 11 declaration of war by Germany, officials in the Department of State considered the issue of the U.S. attitude toward the Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of … Continue reading Tell Us What You Really Think Mr. Secretary [Poison Gas Warfare], 1942
This fall I am going to be presenting a paper on the Navy’s development of the Hunter-Killer Submarine (SSK) and how they evolved the World War II submarine into more familiar submarines of today. In researching that paper, I was digging in Record Group 38: Records of the Chief of Naval Operations in Entry P … Continue reading What Could Possibly Go Wrong… Searching for new roles for Submarines at the Dawn of the Cold War
Historic Route 66 - Historic Route 66 Road Sign (National Archives Identifier 7719468) Maybe you are thinking of a mid-summer vacation and you might have the desire to drive the “Mother Road,” as Route 66 is known. Route 66, one of the original highways in the US highway system was established in 1926 and stretches … Continue reading “If You Ever Plan to Motor West” – Route 66 in the National Register of Historic Places
On November 30, 1908, Secretary of State Elihu Root and Japanese ambassador to the United States Baron Kogoro Takahira, in a process initiated by Takahira on October 26, exchanged diplomatic notes discussing the policies of the U.S. and Japan in the Far East – what has since been known as the Root-Takahira Agreement. The arrangement … Continue reading Advice from the President, 1908
Cannes. Glitz. Glamor. Film stars. Today, the Cannes film festival – formal title Festival de Cannes - is considered the epitome of the international motion picture world. The festival had an uncertain beginning. The first official French notification to the U.S. government of the planned festival arrived in the Department of State in the … Continue reading Calling “Cut” on the First Take at Cannes, 1939
UNITED NATIONS - THE UNITED NATIONS FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM (National Archives Identifier 515902) On June 26, 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco, California. There are approximately 100 properties in the National Register files that contain the term “United Nations,” including the San Francisco Civic Center (National Archives Identifier 123858074), … Continue reading The 80th Anniversary of the Signing of the United Nations Charter (Properties in the National Register of Historic Places related to the UN)
In late 1943/early 1944, Humphrey Bogart and his wife Mayo Methot went on an 2-1/2 month entertainment tour of military bases in North Africa and Italy for the USO. Their party also included actor Don Cummings and accordionist Ralph Hark. In addition to giving shows, Bogart and his wife visited hospitals and undertook other morale-boosting … Continue reading Private First Class Bogart
