Today's post is the second in a series marking Administrative Professionals Week and written by Ketina Taylor (Archivist) and Jenny Sweeney (Education Specialist) of the National Archives at Fort Worth. If you haven't already seen it, don't miss yesterday's post! Two pages from a 50-page New York Telephone Company booklet entitled "What's Cooking?" The booklet contains recipes … Continue reading Hello? Hello? How to Answer the Phone in a Few Easy Steps: Secretarial Training of the 1960s
This week we're publishing a series of posts by Ketina Taylor (Archivist) and Jenny Sweeney (Education Specialist) of the National Archives at Fort Worth. Secretaries at the Conference of Secretaries in Dallas, Texas in June 1959 (online catalog identifier 7280640). Today marks the beginning of Administrative Professionals Week. Since the advent of television and the movies, Americans have … Continue reading Flashback! Secretaries of the 1950s and 1960s: Do You Have What it Takes to be One?
Today's post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. The National Archives of the United Kingdom has many interesting record series titles. One of my favorites is “Mussolini's personal files (the ‘Handbag’ files).” This series consists of the papers that Mussolini was carrying in two handbags when he was captured in April 1945. Likewise, the National … Continue reading What’s in a name? The story behind the series title “Ciano Papers: Rose Garden”
Today's post is by College Park processing archivist Alan Walker. True story: Thursday, March 28 was shaping up to be a typical day. I had before me a cart’s worth of boxes full of case files from the Department of Justice that needed to be listed for a spreadsheet of “temporary” files to be disposed. These … Continue reading On the Waterfront, or, The Smell of Discovery
By David Langbart The motto of the National Archives is "What is Past Is Prologue." Recently, while assisting a researcher at Archives II, I ran into my Dad, even though he died several years ago. A bit of background will help you understand. My father's first Government service, like most in his generation, came in … Continue reading A personal prologue at the National Archives
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 by National Archives Volunteer Bill Nigh. This is the sequel to his earlier post. _____ In my first post, I briefly described the volunteer project based on the records of the U.S. Secret Service (Record Group 87). I stated that this organization began its presidential security mission following a presidential assassination, but its initial … Continue reading Follow the money: the origins of the Secret Service
Today's post (part one in a two-part series) is by National Archives Volunteer Bill Nigh. When I was assigned my first volunteer project, one associated with the U.S. Secret Service (Record Group 87), I wasn’t sure what to expect. Like many my age, I picture the Secret Service agent climbing on the rear deck of … Continue reading The U.S. Secret Service: It Took 42 Years to Protect the President
Today's post is by Dr. Greg Bradsher. Englishman Nicholas Cresswell, during July 1777, wrote in his journal that the American army was composed of a “ragged Banditti of undisciplined people, the scum and refuse of all nations of earth.” Baron Curt von Stedingk, a Swedish colonel in French service, described the American army in Savannah … Continue reading African Americans and the American War for Independence
By David Langbart Jazz great Dave Brubeck died on December 5, one day short of his 92nd birthday. Since then, there have been many retrospectives – in print, on television, on radio, and on line. Almost all of those remembrances mention the goodwill tour of Poland and the Far East that Brubeck and his quartet … Continue reading Remembering Dave Brubeck
