This post is part of an ongoing series featuring records from the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 – 2017 (National Archives ID 20812721), a series within Record Group 79: Records of the National Park Service. With Thanksgiving behind us and December in full swing many Americans are in the … Continue reading “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” Holiday Related Records in the National Register of Historic Places
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. {This is a revision of an earlier post.} In late October 1933, as the end of the first year of his Presidency drew near, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent the following note to Secretary … Continue reading Presidential Holiday Greetings, 1933
By David Langbart. It might surprise some to learn that government bureaucrats have a sense of humor and that it occasionally appears among the records preserved in the National Archives. One such instance was recently located in the files of the World War II-era Office of War Information (OWI). That agency was responsible for formulating … Continue reading Holiday Humor in Wartime: 1942
By Jason Clingerman Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman made use of Thanksgiving throughout his career to highlight timely political issues near the holiday. Below are two examples of his Thanksgiving-themed cartoons: Delegates of the allied powers met in Washington after World War I to conduct peace negotiations. In this 1921 cartoon, Berryman utilizes the day before … Continue reading Cartoonist Clifford Berryman on Thanksgiving
By David Langbart Thanksgiving is considered by many to be the quintessential American holiday. As Thanksgiving 1918 approached, Americans had more reason than the usual to give thanks. On November 11, 1918, Germany signed the armistice that brought World War I to an effective end. In the wake of that event, the United States made … Continue reading Thanksgiving around the world
