Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park. This concludes the 8-part series on Hunting Hitler. The person Brigadier Dick White, head of counter-intelligence in the British Zone, would turn to in September 1945 to sort out the details of Hitler’s death was Hugh Trevor-Roper. Born January … Continue reading Hunting Hitler Part VIII: The Search Ends, September-November 1945
By David Langbart Scholars and others use the series Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), the official documentary publication of American foreign policy, and other printed primary sources, as sources of easily-accessible documentation. Strict reliance upon published documents, however, can lead one astray if the point you are trying to draw is not the … Continue reading Led Astray by Published Documents
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. This blog post is derived from an article published on the web site “American Diplomacy: Foreign Service Despatches and Periodic Reports on U.S. Foreign Policy” An essential aspect of the U.S. foreign policy program, especially since the 1930s, is the use of … Continue reading Diplomats Expressing Displeasure
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher and is the third post in a four-part series. The National Archives and Records Administration plans to display Adolf Hitler’s Political Testament, Personal Will, and Marriage Certificate (National Archives Identifier 6883511) in the exhibit “Making Their Mark” beginning March 21, 2014. This series of blogs traces the … Continue reading Hitler’s Political Testament, Personal Will, and Marriage Certificate: From the Bunker in Berlin to National Archives in Washington, D.C. {Part III: The Documents Journey from Germany to Washington}
By David Langbart The National Archives holds records relating to many firsts: First President. First airplane. First computer. First atomic bomb. First man on the moon. Here is another first. This is Lucile Atcherson. [Source: Lucile Atcherson; Official Personnel Folders-Department of State; Record Group 146: Records of the U.S. Civil Service Commission; National Archives, St. … Continue reading An Archives Filled with Firsts
By David Langbart From time to time while working in the records, NARA staff find documents that provide new perspectives on events through which they lived. I recently had that experience. I remember well the terrible humanitarian disaster that befell local populations as Yugoslavia ripped itself apart during the 1990s. I remember, too, how many … Continue reading Yugoslavia 1970: The Writing on the Wall
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. Seventy-years ago, on November 9, 1942, forty-nine year old Allen W. Dulles arrived in Bern, Switzerland to head up the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operations in Switzerland. Dulles was lucky to be in Switzerland. His train passed from Vichy France into Switzerland only minutes before the Germans … Continue reading Allen Dulles and No. 23 Herrengasse, Bern, Switzerland, 1942-1945
By Alfie Paul So, what is in the RG 286 Records (Record Group 286: Records of the Agency for International Development, 1948 – 2003), and how should researchers approach diving in to the world of USAID? Most important is for researchers to have as much specific information as possible depending on how specific your research … Continue reading Know Your Records: USAID, RG 286, Part II
Today’s post was written by Monique Politowski, an archives technician who works on the NARA/Ancestry digitization partnership project in Silver Spring, Maryland. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were infamous for their use of the f-word, federalism. While John Jay’s infamy grew from his role in the Treaty of Paris (1783) (National Archives Identifier 299805), we should … Continue reading John Jay and the F-Word
This is the first in an occasional series of blog posts. In September 1924, in an aerial trip reminiscent of the voyage of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet (also known as the “Great White Fleet”) around the world between December 1907 and February 1909, a team of U.S. Army airmen completed the first successful aerial circumnavigation … Continue reading Around the World in 175 Days, 1924: Department of State Contributions to the U.S. Army Aerial Circumnavigation: Part I
