By Jason Clingerman Marines skateboarding into combat... sounds like something out of a Back to the Future sequel, right? Well, as a matter of fact, the U.S. military experimented with using skateboards in combat situations. In the March 1999 exercises known as Urban Warrior '99, the military experimented with the potential use of skateboards to … Continue reading Skateboarding into Combat
Category: Arts & Entertainment
Music, Movies, Television, Celebrities, Fine Art, Artists, Comics, Cartoons, etc.
Remembering Andy through the Archives
Today's post is written by Liz Caringola, who works on our ancestry.com digitization project. February 22, 2012, marks the 25th anniversary of the death of American pop artist Andy Warhol. The Pittsburgh native rose to fame in the 1960s as one of the most prominent members of the American pop art movement. He remained a … Continue reading Remembering Andy through the Archives
Uncle Walt, Papa, and The Prom Queen of Soul
By Jason Clingerman What do Walt Disney, Ernest Hemingway, and Whitney Houston have in common? They all served with the American Red Cross! Disney served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in France during World War I. Likewise, Hemingway served as an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I. In fact, Hemingway's service was … Continue reading Uncle Walt, Papa, and The Prom Queen of Soul
Go Army! Beat Navy!
By T. Juliette Arai With the annual Army-Navy game less than two weeks away, I thought I would share an interesting letter I found among the records of the Adjutant General’s Office (Record Group 94). 2nd Lieutenant Robert C. Foy, 8th U.S. Infantry, sent a letter to Major John A. Johnson, Assistant Adjutant General, on … Continue reading Go Army! Beat Navy!
Football and the U.S. Army in the Early 20th Century
By T. Juliette Arai As we are in the midst of the college and professional football seasons, I thought it might be interesting to have a blog about this sport during its early years, one which shows a few of the football-related records we have here at Archives I. At the turn of the last … Continue reading Football and the U.S. Army in the Early 20th Century
Take me out to the ball game
By Robin Waldman I see great things in baseball. It's our game -- the American game. --Walt Whitman Although Benjamin Franklin Shibe died in 1922, his accomplishments had a direct effect on your evening plans for tonight. Never heard of him? You should thank Shibe, if you're among the millions of Americans who are looking … Continue reading Take me out to the ball game
Music at the Archives – John Philip Sousa
Today’s guest blogger is Trevor Plante, a supervisory archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Following up on two recent blog posts from our office by Juliette Arai and Mark Mollan I thought it would be a great opportunity to blog about one of my favorite Marine Corps documents that I often show Marines when we … Continue reading Music at the Archives – John Philip Sousa
Before “Your Show of Shows”: Sid Caesar and the Coast Guard
Today's guest blogger is Mark Mollan, a reference archivist specializing in records of the U.S. Navy and Maritime agencies. Not long ago, an Archives I reference staff member came across a Muster Roll for the USCG unit “Tars and Spars”--a touring entertainment troupe created to bolster the morale and support of World War II USCG … Continue reading Before “Your Show of Shows”: Sid Caesar and the Coast Guard
Music at the National Archives
By T. Juliette Arai RG 93 (War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records), Entry 50 (Music Book, n.d.) As most researchers are aware, the National Archives has many records that are administrative in nature. In some very rare cases, however, we do come across a document that is so much more interesting than the everyday … Continue reading Music at the National Archives
A Life and Taxes
This post looks at an unusual find in the Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts' papers.