Men in suits posing for a photograph

William J. Donovan and the Establishment of the Office of the Coordinator of Information, July 1940-July 1941

Today’s post is by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In July 1940, several weeks after France capitulated to Germany, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox proposed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Secretary of State Cordell Hull that someone be sent to England to study the … Continue reading William J. Donovan and the Establishment of the Office of the Coordinator of Information, July 1940-July 1941

The Surreal Suspect: The FBI’s Brief Investigation of Salvador Dalí

Today’s post is by Megan Dwyre, Special Access and FOIA Program Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Salvador Dalí was born 117 years ago today on May 11, 1904 in Figueras, Spain. This post highlights Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Headquarters case file 100-142631 on the famous Surrealist painter (NAID 16591992). In … Continue reading The Surreal Suspect: The FBI’s Brief Investigation of Salvador Dalí

President Kennedy and Robert Kennedy standing facing each other

The Ex-Men Did It: 60th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion

Today's post was written by Christen Brown, Archives Technician in the Special Media Division at the National Archives in College Park, MD. April 17 to April 20, 2021 marks the 60th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion when Cuban refugees banded together to invade Cuba and overthrow the Castro regime. When the Cuban Revolution … Continue reading The Ex-Men Did It: 60th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion

Mrs. Hartshorne’s Estate Sale and the Joking Neighbor of Patrick McGroury of Manalapan, New Jersey

Today’s post is by Claire Kluskens, Genealogy/Census Subject Matter Expert and Digital Projects Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. On August 28, 1884, a lawyer named A. A. Chambers helped Patrick McGroury of Manalapan, New Jersey, write a letter of inquiry to the Bureau of Pensions about James Hogan, who lived nearby. McGroury … Continue reading Mrs. Hartshorne’s Estate Sale and the Joking Neighbor of Patrick McGroury of Manalapan, New Jersey

Three women working on exhibit cases.

The Freedom Train, 1947-1949

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Early in my career at the National Archives, my branch chief assigned me the task of describing the records of the American Heritage Foundation, part of the National Archives Gift Collection. This sounded boring, and somewhat was … Continue reading The Freedom Train, 1947-1949

When the FBI Used a Stamp Collecting Club as a Counterintelligence Tool

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In doing research in declassified Federal Bureau of Investigation records at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., I ran across a file [105 -174254] describing a counterintelligence operation about a Chinese Communist stamp collecting club. Even though the … Continue reading When the FBI Used a Stamp Collecting Club as a Counterintelligence Tool

Appraising FBI Records in New York City and Los Angeles, 1981: A Personal Diary

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In going through my papers I found that early in 1982 I had written a paper regarding the 1981 appraisal of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records by a team of National Archives and Records Service (NARS)[1] … Continue reading Appraising FBI Records in New York City and Los Angeles, 1981: A Personal Diary

Soviet Intelligence in the United States, 1971

Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The extent of Soviet espionage in the United States was a perpetual question of the Cold War.  From the time of the Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917, but especially during the Great Depression, many … Continue reading Soviet Intelligence in the United States, 1971

The Department of State Reacts to Public Revelations of Intelligence Activities, 1964

Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The book The Invisible Government, published by Random House Publishers in 1964, is one of the first major exposés of the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  The book was written by the … Continue reading The Department of State Reacts to Public Revelations of Intelligence Activities, 1964

Run for the border: Beer Bootlegging during the Prohibition

Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver. “Dear Sir. This Company is not making any ‘near-beer of any kind at present and not until Mont. goes dry yours very truly Lewistown Brewing Co.” So wrote Gus Hodel and his Lewistown Brewing Company of Montana in April 1918, a … Continue reading Run for the border: Beer Bootlegging during the Prohibition