Halloween at the Tule Lake Relocation Center

By Jason Clingerman 70 years ago today, Japanese Americans at the Tule Lake Relocation Center celebrated a harvest festival by wearing costumes. At the Tule Lake Relocation Center, later the Tule Lake Segregation Center, over 24,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned because of suspected disloyalty to the U.S. government under Executive Order 9066.  Starting in 1943, Tule … Continue reading Halloween at the Tule Lake Relocation Center

An American Archivist at Ascona, Switzerland, October 1997

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. One clear, chilly evening this week fifteen years I was alone in the foothills above the town of Ascona, Switzerland, wondering “how in the world did I end up here?” The answer begins in December 1996, in the wake of revelations about Switzerland having dormant bank accounts of … Continue reading An American Archivist at Ascona, Switzerland, October 1997

An example of a FBI document, this one describing lab tests done on wine Khrushchev gave to Kennedy

The Challenge of Federal Bureau of Investigation Records: Abbreviations and Euphemisms

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. The National Archives holds a substantial quantity of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records. And in the forthcoming years even more records will be accessioned.  The FBI case files contain  a variety of documentation, including FBI agent reports; teletype-messages; prosecutive summaries; accounts of interviews and physical surveillance; letters; … Continue reading The Challenge of Federal Bureau of Investigation Records: Abbreviations and Euphemisms

Seventy Years Ago: Colonel Sidney F. Mashbir and the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS), September-October 1942

Today's post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. Seventy years ago, on September 19, 1942, one of the most important intelligence organizations in the Southwest Pacific Area was created and not long afterwards its commander, Sidney F. Mashbir, arrived in the theater to take command of it.  This was the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section, … Continue reading Seventy Years Ago: Colonel Sidney F. Mashbir and the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS), September-October 1942