By David Langbart. Working in a large bureaucracy, such as the U.S. Government, one’s accomplishments are often overlooked by the most senior leadership. On occasion, however, the big boss notices and recognizes the work being done. In some cases, the biggest boss in the bureaucracy – the President – notices. One such instance occurred in … Continue reading The President Says Thank You, 1963: U.S. Policy Regarding The Congo
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The U.S. Army’s Pacific Military Intelligence Research Service (PACMIRS), located at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, had been established in September 1944 to exploit captured Japanese records. During 1945 it saw a steady increase in staff and workload–from 120 personnel in … Continue reading Exploitation of Captured and Seized Japanese Records by the Pacific Military Intelligence Research Service (PACMIRS) 1945-Spring 1946
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, senior archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. The movie, The Monuments Men, has focused great attention on the Monuments Men (and women) and their work during and after World War II. Of course the movie cannot tell the story of the over 300 individuals involved … Continue reading Monuments Man Charles H. Sawyer, part II: Double Duty for the Roberts Commission and the OSS
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. On October 6, 1945, the day Ardelia Hall was terminated from the Strategic Services Unit, she met with Charles B. Sawyer regarding the translation of Japanese laws regarding arts and monuments and concerning the formation of a working … Continue reading Before She Became The Ardelia Hall of the Department of State, Part II: Miss Hall as Consultant with the Department of State
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Anyone studying World War II and postwar issues regarding cultural property knows the name Ardelia Hall, either because they know of her work as Monuments and Fine Arts adviser at the Department of State from 1946 to 1962 and/or … Continue reading Before She Became The Ardelia Hall of the Department of State, Part I: Miss Hall and the Office of Strategic Services
Today’s post, written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, is the next installment in an ongoing series of posts on real-life Monuments Men. The movie, The Monuments Men, has focused great attention on the Monuments Men (and women) and their work during and after World War II. Of course the movie cannot tell the story of the over … Continue reading Archivist Monuments Man: Lester K. Born
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. In 1935 the State Department asked the United States Embassy in Moscow for copies of documents from the Russian archives relating to the American purchase of Alaska in 1867. The Embassy responded in 1936 by sending along copies, and in some cases translations, of 45 documents which … Continue reading From Buchanan’s Blunder to Seward’s Folly, Sort Of
Today’s post is written by David Langbart. Public comment about what is now called the lack of transparency about U.S. foreign policy is not a new phenomenon. The issue goes back to at least World War II, if not before. Recognizing that it needed to better inform the public about its activities, in 1948, the Department … Continue reading Keeping the Public Informed
By David Langbart Jazz great Dave Brubeck died on December 5, one day short of his 92nd birthday. Since then, there have been many retrospectives – in print, on television, on radio, and on line. Almost all of those remembrances mention the goodwill tour of Poland and the Far East that Brubeck and his quartet … Continue reading Remembering Dave Brubeck
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
