Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Early in my career at the National Archives, my branch chief assigned me the task of describing the records of the American Heritage Foundation, part of the National Archives Gift Collection. This sounded boring, and somewhat was … Continue reading The Freedom Train, 1947-1949
Today’s post is by Claire Kluskens, Digital Projects Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC The National Archives recently digitized the Record Book of Ebenezer Ferguson, Justice of the Peace, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 1799-July 1800 (National Archives Identifier 155501037). Mr. Ferguson chronicled actions taken by him in his official capacity from December 1799 to July 1800. … Continue reading Record Book of Justice of the Peace Ebenezer Ferguson of Philadelphia, 1799-1800
Today’s post is by Jeff Simon who interned with the Textual Processing Department at the National Archives in College Park, MD in the summer of 2019 A walking engine of glittering metal, striding now across the heather; articulate ropes of steel dangling from it, and the clattering tumult of its passage mingling with the riot … Continue reading Bringing Sci-Fi to Life: The Walking War Machines of ARPA and G.E.
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In doing research in declassified Federal Bureau of Investigation records at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., I ran across a file [105 -174254] describing a counterintelligence operation about a Chinese Communist stamp collecting club. Even though the … Continue reading When the FBI Used a Stamp Collecting Club as a Counterintelligence Tool
Today’s post comes from Claire Kluskens, Digital Projects Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC In the years after the American Revolution an unknown number of U.S. citizens or residents moved across the generally unregulated northern border to continue their lives - perhaps to seek opportunities or cheap land - in the country we now … Continue reading Some Americans in Canada: The Record Book of Joseph Edwards, Niagara, Upper Canada, April 1812-January 1813
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, often referred to as the “Spanish flu,” was the greatest pandemic of the 20th Century. It killed upwards of 50 million people worldwide, striking without regard to country or … Continue reading The “Spanish Flu” Pandemic of 1918-1919: A Death in Philadelphia
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. In 1957, the U.S. Foreign Service had relatively few women members and up to that date only seven women had ever held the position of Minister or Ambassador (head of a diplomatic post). The … Continue reading Recognizing Women in Foreign Affairs, 1957
Today’s post is written by Joseph Gillette, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park. On March 21, 1963, the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, often referred to simply as Alcatraz or “the Rock”, closed. High costs, deteriorating physical conditions, and a notorious reputation for brutality all contributed to the decision to close what was generally considered … Continue reading We Hold the Rock!
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. In going through my papers I found that early in 1982 I had written a paper regarding the 1981 appraisal of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records by a team of National Archives and Records Service (NARS)[1] … Continue reading Appraising FBI Records in New York City and Los Angeles, 1981: A Personal Diary
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. The leak of sensitive information to the American press is a perpetual problem for U.S. Government officials. See here, here, and here for earlier posts on that subject. The U.S. government, however, is not … Continue reading Reading the Riot Act: American Reaction to Leaks in the Foreign Press
