By David Langbart. In recent years, we have seen a spate of memoirs by high government officials, many of them controversial. Among those publications are books by former Secretaries of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Colin Powell, George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, and Dean Rusk. Perhaps the model for all of them is Cordell Hull, at least … Continue reading Memoirs of a Secretary of State: Cordell Hull
By David Langbart One never knows what will be found in the files. While undertaking holdings maintenance on some records, the document described here appeared. In September 1945, just after the formal end of World War II, the British embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic note to the Department of State requesting some information. In … Continue reading Married Women in the U.S. Government, c. 1945
Today's post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. On October 6, 1945, the day Ardelia Hall was terminated from the Strategic Services Unit, she met with Charles B. Sawyer regarding the translation of Japanese laws regarding arts and monuments and concerning the formation of a working … Continue reading Before She Became The Ardelia Hall of the Department of State, Part II: Miss Hall as Consultant with the Department of State
Today's post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Anyone studying World War II and postwar issues regarding cultural property knows the name Ardelia Hall, either because they know of her work as Monuments and Fine Arts adviser at the Department of State from 1946 to 1962 and/or … Continue reading Before She Became The Ardelia Hall of the Department of State, Part I: Miss Hall and the Office of Strategic Services
By David Langbart This is the fourth post in a four-part series about conducting research in the records of agencies specifically responsible for U.S. foreign relations. It is derived from information on the NARA web pages devoted to that topic. Please visit Part I, Part II, and Part III. To assist with preparing for a … Continue reading Researching Foreign Affairs Records, Part IV: The Foreign Affairs Records Web Pages
By David Langbart This is the third post in a four-part series about conducting research in the records of agencies specifically responsible for U.S. foreign relations. It is derived from information on the NARA web pages devoted to that topic. Please visit Part I, Part II, and Part IV. Here are some very basic hints on … Continue reading Researching Foreign Affairs Records Part III: Research Hints
By David Langbart This is the second post in a four-part series about conducting research in the records of agencies specifically responsible for U.S. foreign relations. It is derived from information on the NARA web pages devoted to that topic. The recommendations herein are applicable to other records, too. Please visit Part I, Part III, … Continue reading Researching Foreign Affairs Records, Part II: Getting Started
By David Langbart This is the first post in a four part series about conducting research in the records of agencies specifically responsible for U.S. foreign relations. It is derived from information on the NARA web pages devoted to that topic. Please visit Part II, Part III, and Part IV. The United States has played … Continue reading Researching Foreign Affairs Records, Part I: Introduction
Today's post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. This past weekend saw the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy during World War II. The invasion was memorably portrayed in the movie The Longest Day (1962) and in episodes of the mini-series “Band of Brothers.” By all accounts, this … Continue reading D + 10 Years: The 1954 Celebration of the World War II Invasion of Normandy
Today's post is written by David Langbart, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. The April 27, 2014, broadcast of the CBS news show “60 Minutes” included a segment entitled “Saving the children.” It recounted the efforts of Nicholas Winton, a British citizen, to save almost 700 Czechoslovakian children, mostly Jewish, from the Nazi … Continue reading Nicholas Winton and Refugee Children: A Follow-up to “60 Minutes”
