Today’s blogger is Stephanie Stork, a summer 2013 intern in the Archives I Reference and Processing Sections who worked with Navy records. Working at the National Archives this past summer as an intern with the Old Navy/Maritime Reference staff allowed me to work with an array of exciting documents, which I’ve come to appreciate as … Continue reading The Curse of Hindsight: December 7, 1941
By Onaona Guay The Know Your Records series aims to inform our readers of the types of records in our holdings, the information found in those record types, and the process by which researchers can request/get access to these records. Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Muster Rolls/Personnel Diaries U.S. Navy muster rolls and personnel diaries … Continue reading Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries
By Onaona Guay Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Deck Logs U.S. Navy deck logs and muster rolls are among the most popular U.S. Navy records in our holdings. Archivists here at Archives II frequently consult these records to answer researcher requests. Considering their popularity, we thought it might be helpful to dive a little deeper … Continue reading Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Deck Logs
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. On the morning of August 7, 1942, the Marines landed on Guadalcanal, relatively near an airfield that the Japanese had begun constructing, and the relatively small number of Japanese on the island melted into the jungle. The following day the Marines began collecting Japanese souvenirs near the airfield. … Continue reading The Marines and Japanese Souvenirs on Guadalcanal August-October 1942
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
Today's post is written by Archives II volunteer Jan Hodges. Do you know what a shellback ceremony is? Chances are that unless you’re a Navy man or a relative, you probably don’t. It’s a ritual conducted aboard ship after it crosses the equator. And not just any old ceremony--one that becomes part of the sailor’s permanent record. The Reference Unit … Continue reading Searching for a Shellback Ceremony in the Navy Deck Logs
Today's post is written by Tina Ligon, a processing archivist in College Park. The U.S. Navy Flag Files (RG 313) contain a myriad of information generated by high-level commanders. These records consist of intelligence reports, memorandums, administrative files, correspondence, and photographs related to such subjects as administration, logistics, and personnel. The Flag Files are divided … Continue reading The Caledonia Company
Today's post is written by Anwar Thomas, an archives technician at Archives II. Processing and consolidating the Navy Deck Logs (National Archives Identifier 594258), in Record Group 24: Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, was an interesting project in my large criteria of archival experience. These logs are filled with many interesting hidden facts … Continue reading The Navy Deck Logs: Personal Experience
Our guest blogger today is Allison Walsh, an Archives Technician at Archives I who works with Navy / Maritime records. She is proud to display the Stars and Stripes every Flag Day, which also happens to be her birthday. Finding the file number nearby, I carefully pulled the trifolded papers open. A handwritten letter dating from … Continue reading Old Glory and the Representation of U.S. Territories
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
