The National Archives and Records Administration is pleased to present our annual Genealogy Series on YouTube. This educational series of lectures will teach you how to use federal resources at the National Archives for genealogical research. Our program this year celebrates public service, with presentations on military and civilian records. You will also learn how … Continue reading Join the National Archives for the 2023 Genealogy Series!
In mid-July 1977, Nathaniel Davis, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, was contacted by representatives of the Central Studio of Documentary Films in Moscow about sitting for an interview about “détente.” Ambassador Davis reported the contact in a telegram to the Department of State, copied to the U.S. embassy in Moscow for information. In discussing the … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Détente, 1977
Today’s post is by John LeGloahec, Archives Specialist in the Electronics Records Division at the National Archives in College Park, MD. A view of the Washington Monument rising above blossoming cherry trees along the Tidal Basin (National Archives Identifier 6384218) If you live in the National Capital Region, you may be familiar with the scene … Continue reading Spring has Sprung! Records relating to Gardens in the National Register of Historic Places
This April 10th marks the 60th Anniversary of the loss of the USS Thresher (SSN 593). The Thresher was the first of two nuclear submarines lost during the Cold War, the other being the USS Scorpion (SSN 589) in 1968. Bow View of the Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593), July 24, 1961 (Local ID: … Continue reading A Modern Submarine on Eternal Patrol – A Tribute to the USS Thresher (SSN 593)
On April 12, 1944, the U.S. legation in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, dispatched a despatch to the Department of State. Enclosed was a sealed envelope containing a letter from King Ibn Saud to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The legation was not provided with a copy of the letter, so it could not provide a translation along … Continue reading Presidential Humor, 1944
Today's post was written by Martin Gedra, archivist with the A2 Reference, Research Rooms, and Augmented Processing Branch. March 29, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of the end of active U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War and also the end of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). When the Paris Peace Accords were … Continue reading 60 Days, 50 Years Ago
Remarks at Last Night's Oscars (National Archives Identifier 236685729) The month of March is traditionally the month in which the Academy Awards are presented in Hollywood. A search of the records of the National Register of Historic Places in the National Archives Catalog returns more than 650 results for the term “Hollywood,” including the Hollywood … Continue reading Light! Camera! Action! Records of the Movie Industry in the National Register of Historic Places
Last month, the National Archives joined the Naval History and Heritage Command and the Arlington National Cemetery in a commemoration of the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor 125 years ago (February 15, 1898). Representatives of the three organizations discussed the historical context of the Maine’s visit to Cuba, the explosion and investigations, … Continue reading Department of State Records Relating to the Destruction of the USS MAINE
A fixture of U.S. foreign relations in the Twentieth Century has been the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain. Certainly since World War II, and perhaps even earlier, the diplomatic, cultural, economic, military, and intelligence cooperation and relationship between the two countries were unparalleled in modern history. Whether that remains true today … Continue reading Special Relationship? Probably Not in 1932
President Obama in the Oval Office
