Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. As numerous scholars have demonstrated, World War II in the Pacific had a distinct racial aspect to it.[1] The Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor reinforced a long-standing strand of American racial animosity towards … Continue reading Watching Out for Your Friends: 1942 Guidance for U.S. Propaganda in the Pacific During World War II
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. Australia is, today, a vital ally of the United States. As the Department of State's February 2017 factsheet on relations with Australia notes, the relationship is "underpinned by shared democratic values, common interests, and … Continue reading The Importance of Australia, 1941
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. World War II began on September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland. France and Great Britain, fulfilling their international obligations, declared war on Germany but could do little to aid the Poles … Continue reading British Opinion About The United States After Pearl Harbor
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. World War II was not only a war of battleships and bullets. Words, in the form of overt and covert propaganda and psychological warfare, played an important role. See the post Airplanes over France for examples … Continue reading War of Words: Race-Based Propaganda During World War II
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. During World War II, the U.S. government produced propaganda films to rally public support. Among the most famous of those motion pictures is Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress released in 1944. The … Continue reading Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park During the first months of 1942, two individuals in the Office of Facts and Figures, within the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, drew up lists of newspapers critical of the Roosevelt Administration.[1] … Continue reading “Fake News” 1942: President Roosevelt and the Chicago Tribune
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park. Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands has recently been in the news regarding the possibility that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were captured by the Japanese and taken to Jaluit Atoll in July 1937. Whether that happened or … Continue reading Captain Alfred Parker on Jaluit Atoll, March – April 1937
Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. At the 1969 National Archives Conference on the National Archives and Foreign Relations Research, the proceedings of which were published in 1974,[1] Morris Rieger, a longtime National Archives staff member, contributed a paper entitled … Continue reading Records of the Foreign Affairs Agencies in the National Archives Bearing on the History of United States Relations with Africa-III: Records of Agencies Other Than the Department of State
Today's post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park. From August 28, 1943 to February 6, 1944, the plot line of one of America's most popular daily comic strips, "Terry and the Pirates" by Milton Caniff, included as one element the issue of information security. Even though the action … Continue reading “Terry and the Pirates” Spreads the Word on Security During World War II
In early 1945, "Terry and the Pirates" was one of the most popular daily comic strips printed in U.S. newspapers. The strip, launched in October 1934, and written by Milton Caniff (1907-1988), was a serial action-adventure strip set in China and its environs. Once World War II began, the action took place within the context … Continue reading Milton Caniff Explains “Terry and the Pirates”
