By T. Juliette Arai A common research topic concerns information on military installations, i.e., forts, camps, depots, barracks, etc. Generally, the bulk of the records we have relate to permanent installations, but we do have a few records pertaining to some temporary posts. Records relating to military installations can be found in a number of … Continue reading Researching Forts at Archives I
Category: Records Reference and Research
Posts about searching and using the records at NARA.
Music at the Archives – John Philip Sousa
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
Music at the National Archives
By T. Juliette Arai RG 93 (War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records), Entry 50 (Music Book, n.d.) As most researchers are aware, the National Archives has many records that are administrative in nature. In some very rare cases, however, we do come across a document that is so much more interesting than the everyday … Continue reading Music at the National Archives
Finding My Father in the Archives
Today's post is the first in an occasional series where we will highlight some of the work of our volunteers. Janet Hodges is a volunteer with the Volunteer Office at the National Archives at College Park. First, this isn’t about genealogy; I don’t like genealogy. I leave that exercise to my daughter who enjoys spending … Continue reading Finding My Father in the Archives
The “Re-Encarnacion” of NARA’s Records
Today's post is written by Monique Politowski, an archives technician who works on the NARA/Ancestry digitization partnership project in Silver Spring, Maryland. Millions of records have been converted to digital form since the partnership between NARA and Ancestry.com began in 2008, and some of the most popular records digitized as a result of this union … Continue reading The “Re-Encarnacion” of NARA’s Records
Foreign Service Friday: Despatch vs. Dispatch
Today’s post is written by archivist David Langbart who works primarily with diplomatic records. In my earlier post about Despatches, I noted that the correct spelling in Department of State usage is dEspatch and not dIspatch. After writing that post, purely by serendipity, I located a document that shows just how seriously the Department of … Continue reading Foreign Service Friday: Despatch vs. Dispatch
Fun with OPA
By Alfie Paul Screen Shot of OPA search results A couple of weeks ago I overheard a converstation between some colleagues discussing OPA. “Try finding it in OPA,” one said. They went on to discuss OPA functionality and benefits and use. I assumed OPA was one of those things above my pay-grade about which I … Continue reading Fun with OPA
The Navy Deck Logs: Personal Connection
Today's post is written by student technician Robert Finch. While working on the Navy Deck Logs (RG 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel) project I called my uncle and asked him which ships his father-in-law, “Mr. W.”, served on during World War II. “Mr. W.” was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 … Continue reading The Navy Deck Logs: Personal Connection
Foreign Service Friday! The Official-Informal Letter
Today’s post is written by archivist David Langbart, who works primarily with diplomatic records. Researchers who use Department of State records may be interested to know a bit more about the types of documents used by Foreign Service Posts to communicate with the Department of State. This is the fifth, and final, in a series … Continue reading Foreign Service Friday! The Official-Informal Letter
Civil Records at Archives I
By T. Juliette Arai "What records do you have here?" is a common question we are asked everyday at Archives I (AI) in Washington, DC. This post -- Part 3 of a 3-part series -- provides a brief description of the civilian agency records one can find in DC. Part 1, Army [records at AI], and … Continue reading Civil Records at Archives I