Department of State and Related Foreign Affairs Agencies.
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. The actor Hal Holbrook, who died in January of 2021, had a long and distinguished career. He appeared on stage and in many motion pictures and television shows. Those of us of a certain age especially … Continue reading Mark Twain Goes Overseas in the 1950s
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In June 1959, the U.S. embassy in London sent a despatch with the subject line “Denigration of the British Royal Family in American Cartoon Magazine.” With it, the embassy’s public affairs officer, F. Bowen Evans, enclosed … Continue reading “A Stupid Insult:” MAD Magazine and the British Royal Family, 1959
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Revered diplomatic historian Walter LaFeber passed away recently. He wrote many important books, some that influenced the public foreign policy debate. They include: The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860-1898 (1963); America, Russia, and … Continue reading Historian in the Records
The clocks move forward one hour in most states this weekend. See these earlier posts on the origins and implementation of Daylight Saving Time during World War I. All blogs were written by David Langbart, archivist at the National Archives in College Park. Daylight Saving Time Begins, 1916 Part IDaylight Saving Time Begins, 1916 Part … Continue reading Spring Forward: Daylight Saving Time Arrives
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. One of the major developments of the Cold War was the evolution of a split between the two major communist powers, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The … Continue reading Humor in Government: A View of the Sino-Soviet Split, 1964
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. A previous post introduced the National Archives program to digitize its microfilm publications beginning with those of the Department of State. It discussed the digitization of the records that constitute the central files of the Department … Continue reading Now Available Online: Department of State Central Files, 1906-1910 (The Numerical and Minor Files)
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. The National Archives is pleased to announce that many important records of the Department of State are being digitized and made available online through the National Archives Catalog. The records consist largely of the various series … Continue reading Now Available Online: Department of State Records, 1789-1906
Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD Noted journalist Robert Sam Anson died on November 2, 2020. The obituaries printed in The New York Times and The Washington Post mentioned that he was captured and held by Communist forces in Cambodia while covering … Continue reading “Amazingly Poor Judgement”: Robert Sam Anson in Cambodia, August 1970
Today’s post is by Deborah Gayle, Archivist in the Electronic Records Division at the National Archives at College Park, MD. The Peace Corps Welcome Books (National Archives ID 51087241) cover the countries in which Peace Corps volunteers serve. Peace Corps volunteers receive these guides at their time of assignment to help them learn about their … Continue reading The Peace Corps Welcome Books – Snapshot of the country from a unique viewpoint
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Within five years after the end of World War II the Japanese Government was making requests for the release of convicted war criminals and for the return of records that had been captured by US military forces. … Continue reading A Brief Survey of the Disposition of Captured Japanese Records, 1945-1962
