An earlier post discussed the 1959, United Artists release of the major motion picture On the Beach. The movie was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Nevil Shute. To recapitulate - Both the book and the movie take place in a post-apocalyptic world. The nuclear fallout resulting from World War III … Continue reading International Reaction to the Motion Picture “On the Beach”
Today's post was written by James Porter, Archives Specialist, in the Processing Branch, Electronic Records Division at the National Archives at College Park The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) serves the nation as the repository for permanent federal records, the vast majority of which come directly from federal agencies. But not all records come … Continue reading Dr. Robert James Kapsch Collection – New Records from the National Park Service
Please enjoy this countdown of our most popular blog posts of 2021. Thank you for continuing to read the Text Message and we hope you join us for more stories, insights, and highlights from the textual records of the National Archives in 2022! #5 "Lucy, I'm Home!"... from the Army Armed Forces Newsmap, vol 1, … Continue reading Text Message Top 5 of 2021
Archbishop Desmond Tutu greets Vice President Al Gore, May 10, 1994 (NAID 24717040) Bishop Desmond Tutu died on December 26, 2021. He was best known for his human rights and nonviolence activities while the Anglican bishop of Johannesburg and then the archbishop of Cape Town, the first Black person to hold either position. Tutu was a hero of … Continue reading Desmond Tutu, October 1931-December 2021
The murder of U.S. diplomats overseas is usually considered a modern phenomenon – a result of increased terrorist activities beginning in the 1960s. While some American diplomats were murdered overseas earlier, John Mein, then U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, was the first sitting American Ambassador to be killed overseas. He died on August 28, 1968, during … Continue reading Attempted Assassination of a U.S. Ambassador, 1921
Additional Department of State records are now available online. The newly-posted records stem from one of the Department’s original functions later transferred to another agency – oversight of affairs in the territories of the United States. You will find a description of other Department of State records now online in this series of occasional posts. … Continue reading Department of State Territorial Papers Now Available Online
The National Archives is pleased to announce that more records of the Department of State have been digitized and are now available online through the National Archives Catalog. This is the fourth in a series of occasional posts. It is the final post describing the records that constitute the “central files” of the Department for … Continue reading More Department of State Records Now Available Online: Diplomatic Instructions, 1785-1906 & Consular Instructions, 1801-1834
Previous posts, described some of the Department of State’s actions relating to the publication of the “Pentagon Papers.” One key point in the government’s argument against publication was that it would provide aid and comfort to America’s overseas opponents. As the Department’s June 17 telegram about the repercussions of the publication of the documents predicted, … Continue reading The Pentagon Papers, 1971: Use By American Adversaries
As noted in a previous post, the legal battle over publication of the “Pentagon Papers” by the New York Times took place in the Federal court in New York, where the Times was located. To support the government’s position in court, the Department sent information to its officials in New York City through the U.S. … Continue reading The Pentagon Papers: The Department of State Supports Action in the Courts
On June 13, 1971, the New York Times began publishing articles based on a “Top Secret” Office of the Secretary of Defense study of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The study had been leaked to that newspaper by Daniel Ellsberg, one of the analysts who worked on the project. The study, entitled … Continue reading The Pentagon Papers: The Department of State Reacts
