Today’s post is written by Alan Walker, a processing archivist in Research Services. Since 2010, the Record Group 286 Processing Team has been steadily transforming the 11,700 cubic feet of paper records of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) housed here at Archives II. A lot of preparation goes into such a massive project … Continue reading Our Mission: The Missions of AID, Part I
Category: Records Reference and Research
Posts about searching and using the records at NARA.
Thank You!
Yesterday, the editors of this blog had the honor of being among the recipients of the Archivist’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement. We were thrilled to be recognized for our work on The Text Message and want to say thank you to our readers and contributors. The ceremony, held in the Adrienne C. Thomas Auditorium at … Continue reading Thank You!
Washington DC in 1950
By M. Marie Maxwell Recently I processed two accretions for Record Group 66, Records of the Commission of Fine Arts. The first was for entry 18B, for the Shipstead-Luce Act Numbered Case Files (ARC 559476), and the other entry 23, the Old Georgetown Act Numbered Case Files (ARC 559486 ). They both contain files about … Continue reading Washington DC in 1950
Accessing veterans’ records
One of the most frequent kinds of research requests we receive concerns gaining access to military veterans' service records. To do our part to commemorate Veterans Day tomorrow, we've asked Theresa Fitzgerald of the Archives' National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis to write a post on everything you ever wanted to know about accessing … Continue reading Accessing veterans’ records
Students Share Scholarly Research at NARA
Many of our NARA colleagues are historians and researchers themselves. In this post, written by Lopez Matthews, we have the opportunity to learn about a few current research projects our staff members are undertaking. If you'd like more information on any of these projects, leave a note in the comments and we'll make sure the … Continue reading Students Share Scholarly Research at NARA
From College Park to Edinburgh: 30 Days with the National Collection of Aerial Photography
Today's post is written by Tom McAnear, a processing archivist in College Park. Tom is participating in the Archival Development Program, an in-house multi-year training course for all of NARA's archivists. As part of my Archival Development Program (ADP) training I recently completed a 30-day rotation in June at the National Collection of Aerial Photography … Continue reading From College Park to Edinburgh: 30 Days with the National Collection of Aerial Photography
The Last Box
Today's post was written by Katy Berube, who spent her summer interning in textual processing. A U.S. President’s signature, Civil War veterans, and a 19th Century labor strike…oh my! Box 273 of the Appointment Files for Judicial Districts 1853-1905 (National Archives Identifier 734590) was the last box I examined for possible records of interest to digitize … Continue reading The Last Box
Brad Meltzer’s NARA Top Ten
Some months ago I attended a book signing at Archives I by author and History Channel star, Brad Meltzer. It was on the occasion of his new book The Inner Circle, which has at its core an archivist and the National Archives. Brad is a big fan of NARA, archivists, and the records we keep. … Continue reading Brad Meltzer’s NARA Top Ten
The Navy Deck Logs: Personal Experience
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
Civil War and Later (SC) Pension Application Files Re-Boxing Preservation Project
Our guest blogger today is Dennis Edelin, Chief, Forms Section at Archives I. On September 26, 2011, the National Archives began a preservation re-boxing project. The purpose of the project is to re-box the nearly 900,000 Soldier Certificate ("SC") Civil War and Later pension application files in our custody. Please note, these records are not … Continue reading Civil War and Later (SC) Pension Application Files Re-Boxing Preservation Project