Today's post is written by Daniel Dancis, an archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. As most of the eastern United States is experiencing record setting low temperatures this week it is timely to look back at a letter written by then-Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to the Office of the Sergeant At … Continue reading It’s Cold Inside!
Today's post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher and Dr. Sylvia Naylor, archivists at the National Archives in College Park. This post is also featured on our Rediscovering Black History blog. In April 1945 the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion received orders to move to the West Coast for a special assignment. Members of this all African American unit hoped to finally see combat … Continue reading Firefly Project and the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (“Smoke Jumpers”)
Today’s post is written by Cody White, an archivist at the National Archives at Denver. Strolling the two Western American Art galleries at the Denver Art Museum one can see several examples of famed western artist Charles Marion Russell’s depictions, in both paint and bronze, of the American West, but Russell’s work can also be seen … Continue reading How The West Was Drawn: the Art of Charles Marion Russell in the National Archives at Denver
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. As December 1944 ended and January 1945 began, the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) was two weeks old and the Allied forces had stopped the German effort to cross the Meuse River and capture Antwerp. … Continue reading The Monuments Men During January 1945
Today’s post is written by Cody White, an archivist at the National Archives at Denver. In February 1939, the Superintendent of Carlsbad Caverns National Park Thomas Boles wrote to Robert Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” and Floyd Gibbons’ “Headline Hunter” radio program about what he considered to be an unbelievable story; a ranger had fallen into … Continue reading “Fool Thing to Do;” The True Story of Surviving a Fall Into The Carlsbad Caverns National Park Elevator Shaft
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The linguists with the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) of General Douglas MacArthur’s General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) were responsible, at ATIS headquarters in Australia and, attached to units in the field, for translating captured documents … Continue reading The National Archives’ Arthur Evarts Kimberly and the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section’s Document Restoration Sub-Section, 1944-1945
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. Part 1 of this series can be found here. During August and September Galland lobbied unsuccessfully against the plane being used as a bomber. During September, 72 were produced as bombers and only 19 as fighters. Galland was, however, able … Continue reading The German Jet Me-262 in 1944: A Failed Opportunity – Part II
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. As early as 1937, the German Messerschmitt Company developed the jet plane, the Me-262 Schwalbe (Swallow). It was flown experimentally in 1941 with a piston engine and then successfully in 1942 with jet engines, but was rejected by the … Continue reading The German Jet Me-262 in 1944: A Failed Opportunity – Part I
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The Monuments Men -- the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFA&A) specialists assigned to General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) -- had begun operations in France in June 1944 and by December had moved into … Continue reading The Monuments Men: Taking Stock and Preparing to Move Forward, December 1944
Today’s post is written by Meghan Ryan Guthorn, an accessioning archivist at Archives II in College Park In archives, as in books, it is important not to judge the content by the cover. Even the records series with the driest names can be home to some of the most fascinating pieces of history. The President’s … Continue reading Statistics: The Subtle Tool
