Department of State and Related Foreign Affairs Agencies.
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
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 third in a series of occasional posts. The first post described the microfilm digitization project and the first foreign affairs records made available through … Continue reading Department of State Records Now Available Online: Despatches from Special Agents, Notes to Foreign Missions, and Notes from Foreign Consuls, 1789-1906
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In August 1921, the Department of State sent a circular to all American diplomatic posts asking for answers to a multi-page questionnaire soliciting information to clarify “the needs of the Government in the matter of appropriations … Continue reading A Founder of the United States Foreign Service Writes: Joseph Grew on the Importance of Diplomatic Service, 1921
Today’s post was written by Lynn Nashorn, textual processing and accessioning archivist at the National Archives at College Park. Called many names from the Iran-Contra Scandal to the McFarlane affair (after National Security Advisor under President Ronald Reagan Robert McFarlane) to simply Iran Contra, the Iran-Contra affair involved United States officials illegally funding Central American … Continue reading The Iran-Contra Affair: Faded in Time, but not Forgotten
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. The PBS miniseries Atlantic Crossing tells a story of a princess stealing the heart of the president of the United States in a made-for-television drama about the World War II relationship of President Franklin D. Roosevelt … Continue reading Atlantic Crossing: The Christmas Visit
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. The National Archives is pleased to announce that additional records of the Department of State have been digitized and are now available online through the National Archives Catalog. An earlier post described the microfilm digitization project … Continue reading More Department of State Records Now Available Online: Consular Despatches, 1783-1906
Today’s post was written by Lynn Nashorn, textual processing and accessioning archivist at the National Archives at College Park. In 2020, the United States marked the 40th anniversary of the Mariel boatlift that brought approximately 125,000 Cubans to the United States in the course of just over six months. The journey to this mass exodus … Continue reading Castro, Cuba, and a Fleet of Fishing Boats: The Causes and Effects of the Mariel Boatlift
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Mutiny on the Bounty is a major 1962 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture starring Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, and Richard Harris. It is a fictionalized account of the true mutiny that took place on HMAV Bounty in April … Continue reading Problems with Mutiny on the Bounty, 1960
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. An earlier post discussed the U.S. Government’s preparations for dealing with international reaction to the 1959 motion picture On the Beach. That film depicted the post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear war. It was the first major … Continue reading Responding to the release of “On the Beach:” Early use of emojis
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Mike Nichols was one of the greats of American stage and screen. Successful as comedian, actor, and director (of stage and screen), he is one of the few to have won the so-called EGOT prize – … Continue reading Mike Nichols: Coming to America, 1939
