photo of man w/short hair and mustache, bare torso, right side turned toward camera to show amputated right arm at the shoulder, w/exposed bone

BENEATH HIS SHIRT SLEEVES: Evidence of Injury

Tintype Images of Wounded Civil War Union Soldiers from Pension Application Files in the U.S. National Archives **Please note that the following post contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some readers.** This is the first of two posts about personal tintype images of wounded soldiers in the Civil War Pension Application Files from … Continue reading BENEATH HIS SHIRT SLEEVES: Evidence of Injury

Equalization and its Role in Dismantling Racial Segregation in Virginia Public Schools

Today’s post was written by Grace Schultz, archivist at the National Archives at Philadelphia. A companion lesson plan can be viewed here on DocsTeach. The fight to desegregate schools started long before the Supreme Court’s decision in Oliver Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, et al., and it continues today. As can … Continue reading Equalization and its Role in Dismantling Racial Segregation in Virginia Public Schools

players and officials gathered at the 50 yd line for coin toss

Football Related Records in the National Register of Historic Places

Six-Man Football Team #43, Nov 1938 (NAID 57274602) Super Bowl LVI will be played this weekend (Go Team!).  The month of February is traditionally when the National Football League (NFL) Championship is played, along with the Pro Bowl, which marks the end of the NFL season.  There are a number of football-related records in the … Continue reading Football Related Records in the National Register of Historic Places

Tutu and Gore smiling and shaking hands

Desmond Tutu, October 1931-December 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

“Outsiders” in the United States Army during the American War for Independence

Today’s post is by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.  Throughout the U.S. Army’s history there have been political and social issues surrounding the recruitment and utilization of “outsiders,” people who were not like the majority of white and native-born soldiers with whom they served. This post takes … Continue reading “Outsiders” in the United States Army during the American War for Independence

view of a street w/burned out/destroyed buildings

“Everything was burned down to the ground”: The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Today’s post was written by Bob Nowatzki, Archives Technician in Research Services at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. **Please note some of the images are graphic and disturbing, but we include them as  important evidence in the historical record.** The Tulsa Race Massacre of May 31-June 1, 1921 was one of the deadliest … Continue reading “Everything was burned down to the ground”: The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Records Related to African American History in the National Register of Historic Places

Today’s post is by John LeGloahec, Archives Specialist in the Electronics Records Division at the National Archives in College Park, MD. This post is part of an ongoing "road trip" featuring records from the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 – 2017 (National Archives ID 20812721), a series within … Continue reading Records Related to African American History in the National Register of Historic Places

Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong’s Civil War

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Gen. Samuel C. Armstrong (NAID 167250430). At Benedict, Maryland, in command of U.S. Colored Troops, on December 17, 1863, Union Army Lt. Col. Samuel Chapman Armstrong wrote, “we are fighting for humanity and freedom, the South for … Continue reading Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong’s Civil War

NAACP vs the Washington DC Police Department

Today's post is a reposting of an earlier article written by M Marie Maxwell, an Archives Specialist in the Archives Processing & Holdings Security Branch in Washington, DC. This was originally posted on November 28, 2014. Earlier this month millions of Americans voted. Voting is one of the hallmarks of our democracy, and one method … Continue reading NAACP vs the Washington DC Police Department

The Closed Door of Justice: African American Nurses and the Fight for Naval Service

Today's post is written by Alicia Henneberry, Archives Specialist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Commissioning ceremony in which Phyllis Dailey, second from right, became the first black nurse in the Navy Nursing Corps. March 8, 1945. NAID 520618. In October 1908, twenty nurses reported for duty at the Naval Medical School Hospital … Continue reading The Closed Door of Justice: African American Nurses and the Fight for Naval Service