One of the more notable events in U.S.-Soviet relations during the Eisenhower Administration War was the American National Exhibit in Moscow from July 25 to September 4, in 1959. This was the scene of the so-called Kitchen Debate between Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers Nikita Khrushchev. The … Continue reading Sticky Fingers in Moscow, 1959
Today's post is written by Timothy Wilcox, an Archivist at the National Archives at Kansas City. Many born in the 1980s and after cannot recall a life without electronic visual media in vibrant hues. Few of us know the history that brought it to the masses. The advent of color television was a gradual process … Continue reading Standardizing Color Television Systems
Merchant Marine Vessel Logs for the Port of Boston; Muskogee, 12/31/1941 - 1/30/1942, Boston, MA (NAID 6991388) Today’s post was written by Katherine Terry, Archives Technician at the National Archives at St. Louis. The Sinking of the Muskogee The S.S. Muskogee was a merchant tanker built in 1913 by the Sun Shipbuilding Company in Chester, … Continue reading Faces from a Vanished Ship: The Life and Afterlife of the S.S. Muskogee
In October 1960, in the last months of the Eisenhower Administration, the Civil Service Commission announced the establishment of the Federal Woman’s Award for outstanding achievement by women in the Federal career service to be administered by the Board of Trustees, Federal Woman’s Award. The award was announced in the following press release: A pamphlet … Continue reading Recognizing Women in Federal Service, 1961
The major United Artists motion picture On the Beach came out in 1959. It was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Nevil Shute. The book and the movie depict a post-apocalyptic world in the aftermath of a nuclear war. It was the first major movie about nuclear conflict and it threatened to … Continue reading More on preparing for the release of “On the Beach”
Girls' Activities - Girl Scouts - Girl Scout Camp at Central Valley. The bugler of the girl scouts camp at Central Valley, New York (National Archives Identifier 31483120) Tomorrow, March 12, is Girl Scout Day, which commemorates the founding of the Girl Scouts of the USA, when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization's first … Continue reading More than Samoas, Thin Mints, and Tagalongs! Properties about Girl Scouts in the National Register of Historic Places
March marks Women’s History Month, set aside to honor women’s contributions in American history. Today I would like to highlight the life and career of Pablita Velarde/Tse Tsan (Santa Clara Pueblo), a prominent 20th-century Native artist. Using records from a host of collections across National Archives facilities, we are able to glimpse into this accomplished … Continue reading Meet Artist Pablita Velarde/Tse Tsan (Santa Clara Pueblo)
Until the mid-twentieth century, civilian personnel files as we now understand them did not exist. Nevertheless, there were some earlier records of a personnel-type that existed. Among them are the records relating to applications for service in agencies of the U.S. government. This type of file, which can be found in the records of multiple … Continue reading Now Available Online: Department of State Letters of Application and Recommendation for Public Office, 1797-1877
Today's post was written by M Marie Maxwell, archivist in the Special Access and FOIA Program at the National Archives in College Park. In the executive proclamation for National Black History Month, 2025, African American economist and prolific author Thomas Sowell was mentioned. Although retired from teaching, Professor Sowell does pop up here and there … Continue reading Thomas Sowell and the National Archives Catalog
Today’s post is written by Jessica Behrman, Archivist at The National Archives at Denver. Heart Mountain Relocation Project (National Archives Identifier 342713797) On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which resulted in Japanese-American incarceration at relocation centers across remote areas of the western U.S. and Arkansas.[1] This series is part of … Continue reading Case Files of Japanese-American Prisoners, 1944–1946
