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
By Alfie Paul The National Archives has a program of presentations called Know Your Records through which archivists, volunteers, and others share their knowledge of our records with you, the public. It is a great way for interested individuals to learn what we have and how to use what we have to their advantage. The … Continue reading Know Your Records: USAID, RG 286, Part I
By Alfie Paul Tomorrow we are all Irish. So, to celebrate St. Patirck's Day I had a look around our holdings to see how The Text Message could celebrate Eire. As always I used our Online Public Access (OPA) system and found some expected things: Consular records in RG 84 (Records of the Foreign Service Posts … Continue reading Irish American Heroes
By Alfie Paul Presidents Day is celebrated in honor of the birthday of our first president, George Washington, who was born February 22nd. But what if he was not actually the first President of the nation? What if we celebrated this holiday in April instead? When all of the states ratified the Articles of Confederation … Continue reading President’s/Presidents’/Presidents Day?
Yesterday, the editors of this blog had the honor of being among the recipients of the Archivist’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement. We were thrilled to be recognized for our work on The Text Message and want to say thank you to our readers and contributors. The ceremony, held in the Adrienne C. Thomas Auditorium at … Continue reading Thank You!
Some months ago I attended a book signing at Archives I by author and History Channel star, Brad Meltzer. It was on the occasion of his new book The Inner Circle, which has at its core an archivist and the National Archives. Brad is a big fan of NARA, archivists, and the records we keep. … Continue reading Brad Meltzer’s NARA Top Ten
The most asked question this weekend will be “where were you?” I was living in Massachusetts and on my way to the doctor. The news on the radio said that something, probably a small plane, had hit the World Trade Center. By the time my appointment was over all hell had broken loose. The odd … Continue reading 10 Years Later: Remembering 9/11
Today's post is written by Alfie Paul, a processing archivist at Archives II. On July 20, 1969 the world watched as the first human beings landed on the moon. That day 42 years ago was the culmination of a race to the moon that President John F. Kennedy began in 1961 saying he believed “that … Continue reading One Small Step
By Alfie Paul In honor of the passing of former First Lady Betty Ford, we thought we would find her in the records. Obviously, there is more to be found in the Ford Presidential Library but she can be found in our corner of NARA as well. Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford, Betty, was First Lady … Continue reading RIP Betty Ford, April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011
By Alfie Paul Screen Shot of OPA search results A couple of weeks ago I overheard a converstation between some colleagues discussing OPA. “Try finding it in OPA,” one said. They went on to discuss OPA functionality and benefits and use. I assumed OPA was one of those things above my pay-grade about which I … Continue reading Fun with OPA
