people sitting in stalls using microfilm readers

Beyond the Microfilm Reader: Digital Availability of NARA’s Microfilm Publications

It has been a long-time objective to systematically digitize the microfilm publications located in National Archives and Records Administration (NARA’s) Microfilm Reading Rooms. Less than a quarter of the publications are currently digitized and available online. Most of those were digitized by NARA’s digitization partners and are available on their websites as well as in … Continue reading Beyond the Microfilm Reader: Digital Availability of NARA’s Microfilm Publications

Text Message Top 5 of 2021

Please enjoy this countdown of our most popular blog posts of 2021. Thank you for continuing to read the Text Message and we hope you join us for more stories, insights, and highlights from the textual records of the National Archives in 2022! #5 "Lucy, I'm Home!"... from the Army Armed Forces Newsmap, vol 1, … Continue reading Text Message Top 5 of 2021

Document with handwriting

Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Why William Carman’s Tintype Was in His Widow’s Pension File

Today’s post is by Jackie Budell, Archives Specialist at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This is the final of three posts about tintype images in the Civil War Pension Application Files from the Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Record Group 15). Photographic image from the approved pension application file of Emeline Carman, … Continue reading Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Why William Carman’s Tintype Was in His Widow’s Pension File

Face of Civil War Soldier

Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Why Private William Carman Sent a Tintype to His Wife

Today’s post is by Jackie Budell, Archives Specialist at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This is the second of three posts about tintype images in the Civil War Pension Application Files from the Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Record Group 15). Photographic image from the approved pension application file of Emeline Carman, … Continue reading Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Why Private William Carman Sent a Tintype to His Wife

portrait of a woman in a gilded frame

Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Your Questions Answered

Today’s post is by Jackie Budell, Archives Specialist at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. **Please note that the following post contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some readers.** This is the first of three posts about tintype images in the Civil War Pension Application Files from the Records of the Department of … Continue reading Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Your Questions Answered

Department of State Territorial Papers Now Available Online

Additional Department of State records are now available online.  The newly-posted records stem from one of the Department’s original functions later transferred to another agency – oversight of affairs in the territories of the United States.  You will find a description of other Department of State records now online in this series of occasional posts.  … Continue reading Department of State Territorial Papers Now Available Online

More Department of State Records Now Available Online: Diplomatic Instructions, 1785-1906 & Consular Instructions, 1801-1834

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 fourth in a series of occasional posts.  It is the final post describing the records that constitute the “central files” of the Department for … Continue reading More Department of State Records Now Available Online: Diplomatic Instructions, 1785-1906 & Consular Instructions, 1801-1834

Department of State Records Now Available Online: Despatches from Special Agents, Notes to Foreign Missions, and Notes from Foreign Consuls, 1789-1906

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

An 1890 Census Fragment for Alaska is Rediscovered

Today’s post is by Claire Kluskens, Genealogy/Census Subject Matter Expert and Digital Projects Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The National Archives recently digitized a previously unappreciated fragment of the 1890 census for Alaska. Located in Record Group 29: Records of the Bureau of the Census, digital images are in the National Archives … Continue reading An 1890 Census Fragment for Alaska is Rediscovered

More Department of State Records Now Available Online: Consular Despatches, 1783-1906

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