Today's post is by Cody White, archivist at the National Archives at Denver. He is not related to Buffalo Bill. It is said that nobody can stop progress… and apparently not even William “Buffalo Bill” Cody when in the early 20th century he resorted to relying on his clout with President Theodore Roosevelt to prevent development … Continue reading Buffalo Bill and the Taming of his Wild West
Today's blogger is Meghan Milam, a summer 2013 intern in the Archives I Reference Section who worked with court records. Rights guaranteed by the First Amendment are by no means clearly defined. Contentious, news-worthy cases like those involving Pfc. Manning or Edward Snowden bring the debate into the broader public. The phrase “clear and present danger” is used … Continue reading A Glimpse into the Sedition Case of 1944
Today's guest blogger is Nick Baric, an archivist in the Archives I Processing Section. On August 23, 2011, the Washington, DC, area was rocked by the one of the largest east coast earthquakes in recorded U.S. history. Few of us who were around on that day will ever forget where they were when it struck, … Continue reading “A Rumbling Fearful Noise”: Charleston Earthquake of 1886
Today’s blogger is Megan Hamby, a summer 2013 intern in the Archives I Reference and Processing Sections who worked with Army records. While processing a series from the Department of Veterans Affairs (Record Group 15), I came across a piece of correspondence from the Colorado State Medical Society to Dr. J.C. Cornell, Supervisor, United States Public … Continue reading A Vaccinated Nation
Today's post is written by David Langbart. To a large degree, working with the records at the National Archives is a never-ending series of fascinating encounters with the original documentation of U.S. history. The following document, a memorandum of conversation (memcon) drafted by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles in January 1954, gives an idea why … Continue reading Why working at the National Archives is so interesting
Today's blogger is Emily Hauser, a summer 2013 intern in the Archives I Reference Section who worked with Army records. While writing descriptions of records of the Adjutant General’s Office (Record Group 94), I came across some very interesting documents created by the War Department concerning various budgets from 1920 in Washington, D.C. One of the charts … Continue reading The Price of the Past
Today's post is written by Michael Rhodes, an archives technician in the Archives' National Declassification Center. Fifty years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, we are still piecing together the actions of his administration. From the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330), a report – probably one … Continue reading Cuban Missile Crisis, Revisited
Today's post is written by archivist Shane Bell of the National Archives at Atlanta. The so-called golden age of piracy ended in the early 18th century, decades before the first shot of the American Revolution. During what is often referred to as the Second War for Independence, however, the last significant era of this practice, legally … Continue reading The War of 1812: Privateers, Plunder, & Profiteering
Today's post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. Elizabeth Hamer, the chief of the National Archives Exhibits and Publications staff, maintained a very detailed daily diary of everything she and her staff did between 1946 and 1951. While conducting research for an article on the 1946 accessioning and exhibiting of Adolf Hitler’s Last Will and … Continue reading 13 Rue Madeleine and the National Archives
Today's post is written by Chelsey MacBride-Gill, a College Park volunteer. While processing the records of the American Expeditionary Forces (10th Division HQ), I came across an unusual letter from a concerned citizen Thomas Hartman, dated October 12, 1918. Most of the papers in the folder simply stated that a soldier was absent without leave (AWOL) … Continue reading Service Flag Adorns an AWOL Letter
