Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In June 1959, the U.S. embassy in London sent a despatch with the subject line “Denigration of the British Royal Family in American Cartoon Magazine.” With it, the embassy’s public affairs officer, F. Bowen Evans, enclosed … Continue reading “A Stupid Insult:” MAD Magazine and the British Royal Family, 1959
This post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Archival mantra holds that a misfiled document is as good as gone forever. That is, unless somebody finds it, recognizes its status as a misfile, and refiles it in its proper location. It can, however, be … Continue reading Finding Its Way Back Home: The Saga of a Misfiled Document
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Revered diplomatic historian Walter LaFeber passed away recently. He wrote many important books, some that influenced the public foreign policy debate. They include: The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860-1898 (1963); America, Russia, and … Continue reading Historian in the Records
The clocks move forward one hour in most states this weekend. See these earlier posts on the origins and implementation of Daylight Saving Time during World War I. All blogs were written by David Langbart, archivist at the National Archives in College Park. Daylight Saving Time Begins, 1916 Part I Daylight Saving Time Begins, 1916 … Continue reading Spring Forward: Daylight Saving Time Arrives
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. One of the major developments of the Cold War was the evolution of a split between the two major communist powers, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The … Continue reading Humor in Government: A View of the Sino-Soviet Split, 1964
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. A previous post introduced the National Archives program to digitize its microfilm publications beginning with those of the Department of State. It discussed the digitization of the records that constitute the central files of the Department … Continue reading Now Available Online: Department of State Central Files, 1906-1910 (The Numerical and Minor Files)
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD. The National Archives is pleased to announce that many important records of the Department of State are being digitized and made available online through the National Archives Catalog. The records consist largely of the various series … Continue reading Now Available Online: Department of State Records, 1789-1906
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD Noted journalist Robert Sam Anson died on November 2, 2020. The obituaries printed in The New York Times and The Washington Post mentioned that he was captured and held by Communist forces in Cambodia while covering … Continue reading “Amazingly Poor Judgement”: Robert Sam Anson in Cambodia, August 1970
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD Noted aviator Charles E. (Chuck) Yeager died on December 7. He is best remembered for piloting the Bell X-1 rocket plane in 1947 when it became the first human-controlled aircraft to break the sound barrier. That … Continue reading Chuck Yeager – Evader, March 1944
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Josef Stalin presided over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) from 1928 until he died in March 1953. (See this post for a humorous reaction to his death.) His standing in the U.S.S.R. at the … Continue reading Khrushchev’s Secret Speech, 1956
