Today's post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. This past weekend saw the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy during World War II. The invasion was memorably portrayed in the movie The Longest Day (1962) and in episodes of the mini-series “Band of Brothers.” By all accounts, this … Continue reading D + 10 Years: The 1954 Celebration of the World War II Invasion of Normandy
Today's post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The April 27, 2014, broadcast of the CBS news show “60 Minutes” included a segment entitled “Saving the children.” It recounted the efforts of Nicholas Winton, a British citizen, to save almost 700 Czechoslovakian children, mostly Jewish, from the Nazi … Continue reading Nicholas Winton and Refugee Children: A Follow-up to “60 Minutes”
Today's post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. This blog post is derived from an article published on the web site “American Diplomacy: Foreign Service Despatches and Periodic Reports on U.S. Foreign Policy” An essential aspect of the U.S. foreign policy program, especially since the 1930s, is the use of … Continue reading Diplomats Expressing Displeasure
Today's post is written by David Langbart. Public comment about what is now called the lack of transparency about U.S. foreign policy is not a new phenomenon. The issue goes back to at least World War II, if not before. Recognizing that it needed to better inform the public about its activities, in 1948, the Department … Continue reading Keeping the Public Informed
By David Langbart The National Archives holds records relating to many firsts: First President. First airplane. First computer. First atomic bomb. First man on the moon. Here is another first. This is Lucile Atcherson. [Source: Lucile Atcherson; Official Personnel Folders-Department of State; Record Group 146: Records of the U.S. Civil Service Commission; National Archives, St. … Continue reading An Archives Filled with Firsts
Today's post is written by David Langbart. To a large degree, working with the records at the National Archives is a never-ending series of fascinating encounters with the original documentation of U.S. history. The following document, a memorandum of conversation (memcon) drafted by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles in January 1954, gives an idea why … Continue reading Why working at the National Archives is so interesting
By David Langbart The motto of the National Archives is "What is Past Is Prologue." Recently, while assisting a researcher at Archives II, I ran into my Dad, even though he died several years ago. A bit of background will help you understand. My father's first Government service, like most in his generation, came in … Continue reading A personal prologue at the National Archives
By David Langbart From time to time while working in the records, NARA staff find documents that provide new perspectives on events through which they lived. I recently had that experience. I remember well the terrible humanitarian disaster that befell local populations as Yugoslavia ripped itself apart during the 1990s. I remember, too, how many … Continue reading Yugoslavia 1970: The Writing on the Wall
By David Langbart Jazz great Dave Brubeck died on December 5, one day short of his 92nd birthday. Since then, there have been many retrospectives – in print, on television, on radio, and on line. Almost all of those remembrances mention the goodwill tour of Poland and the Far East that Brubeck and his quartet … Continue reading Remembering Dave Brubeck
By David Langbart In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago today, agencies of the U.S. government swung into action. The Army and Navy immediately went on a war footing as did American diplomats in the Department of State and at embassies and consulates around the world. Since the formal … Continue reading Remembering Pearl Harbor
