The Monuments Men in April 1945: Siegen, Finally

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park On March 31, 1945, the 12th Army Group reported that probably the most important repository in the area immediately ahead of the forces under its command was at or near Siegen, some fifty miles east of Cologne. It noted … Continue reading The Monuments Men in April 1945: Siegen, Finally

On the Road Again: Presidential Visits to the West, Part III

Today's post was written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives in Denver. This is the last part in a three part series. Read parts one and two. For a president who was only in office a few short years before his untimely death, President John F. Kennedy certainly got around - we hold in … Continue reading On the Road Again: Presidential Visits to the West, Part III

On the Road Again: Presidential Visits to the West, Part II

Today's post was written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver. This is part two in a three part series. Read Part I. In 1930 Secretary of Interior Ray Lyman Wilber visited southern Nevada to inaugurate the construction of a long planned dam on the Colorado River. Known until then as Boulder … Continue reading On the Road Again: Presidential Visits to the West, Part II

On the Road Again: Presidential Visits to the West, Part I

Today’s post was written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver. Campaigns. Dedications. Even family vacations. For one reason or another United States Presidents have found some excuse to visit the American West and scattered throughout the National Archives at Denver holdings are photographs of 11 presidents on just such trips. Some … Continue reading On the Road Again: Presidential Visits to the West, Part I

Post Master General Letter about Nigerian Prince

History Repeating Itself: Mail Fraud Case 8011

Today’s post was written by Jessica Lee, a summer intern in the Reference Section, Civil records team at the National Archives in Washington, DC. In a previous blog post, I wrote about an interesting fraud case I discovered in the records of the Fraud Order Case Files, 1894-1951 (NAID 2660896).  That file pertained to the “White … Continue reading History Repeating Itself: Mail Fraud Case 8011

An Unsuspected Foe: Shark Attacks during World War II

Today's post was written by Megan Dwyre, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. Several species of shark have been known to attack a swimming man. Your chances of encountering one of these are not great…– Extract from "Survival on Land and Sea."[1] "Shark Attacks", a 1944 survey conducted by the Coordinator of Research and Development, U.S. … Continue reading An Unsuspected Foe: Shark Attacks during World War II

The Kümmel Report

Today's post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher and Dr. Sylvia Naylor, Archivists at the National Archives in College Park. Dr. Alfred Hentzen, on the staff of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, was mobilized into the German Army in mid-1942.  While serving on the Intelligence Staff of a Panzer Division in North Africa, he … Continue reading The Kümmel Report

Scam Letter from White Wizard

The White Wizard Approaches (To Defraud You)

Today's post was written by Jessica Lee.  She's a summer intern in the Archives 1 Reference Section, working with the Civil records team. One of the projects I have been assigned this summer is to help create a finding aid for the approximately 10,000 fraud cases housed at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC … Continue reading The White Wizard Approaches (To Defraud You)

The End of the Beginning: The United States Breaks Relations with Cuba, 1961

By David Langbart The recent announcement that the United States and Cuba will establish embassies in each other’s capitals signifies the beginning of a second era of formal relations between the two countries.  The first era lasted from 1902, when the U.S. sent its first diplomatic representative to independent Cuba, until January 1961, when the … Continue reading The End of the Beginning: The United States Breaks Relations with Cuba, 1961

The Best Prophet of the Future is the Past, Part II: Cockpit Doors

This post was written by Chris Naylor, Director of the Textual Records Division. The devastating Germanwings plane crash on March 24, 2015 has reinvigorated the dialogue surrounding airplane cockpit doors, an issue of paramount concern both in 1970 as well as in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. I recently wrote a blog post about … Continue reading The Best Prophet of the Future is the Past, Part II: Cockpit Doors