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
Tag: RG 59
Remembering Pearl Harbor
By David Langbart In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 71 years ago today, agencies of the U.S. government swung into action. The Army and Navy immediately went on a war footing as did American diplomats in the Department of State and at embassies and consulates around the world. Since the formal … Continue reading Remembering Pearl Harbor
Thanksgiving around the world
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
Political Sensitivity at the Peak of the Cold War
By Jason Clingerman In February 1963, the United Nations (UN) held the UN Conference on the Application of Science and Technology for the Benefit of the Less Developed Areas (UNCAST) in Geneva, Switzerland. This conference, held at the peak of the Cold War, brought together about 1,600 delegates from 96 countries, including delegations from both … Continue reading Political Sensitivity at the Peak of the Cold War
Irish American Heroes
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
Launch of new web pages on Foreign Affairs records
To assist researchers interested in records of the Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies, the most heavily used records in the National Archives, the Textual Archives Services Division has launched a newly revamped set of pages on the Archives' website for providing an introduction to foreign affairs records. The conduct of foreign affairs … Continue reading Launch of new web pages on Foreign Affairs records
Croatia and the Voice of America
Today's post is written by Ashby Crowder. A few days ago the Washington Post ran a story about the recent closing of the Voice of America’s (VOA) Croatian language radio broadcast service. If you’re interested in the history of Voice of America in the former Yugoslavia, the National Archives at College Park has some records … Continue reading Croatia and the Voice of America
Presidential greetings, c. 1933
By David Langbart The Great Depression had a serious negative impact on the situation of American diplomatic and consular officials overseas. As the end of the first year of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency drew near, the President sent the following note to Secretary of State Cordell Hull: MEMORANDUM FROM … Continue reading Presidential greetings, c. 1933
RIP Betty Ford, April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011
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
The “Re-Encarnacion” of NARA’s Records
Today's post is written by Monique Politowski, an archives technician who works on the NARA/Ancestry digitization partnership project in Silver Spring, Maryland. Millions of records have been converted to digital form since the partnership between NARA and Ancestry.com began in 2008, and some of the most popular records digitized as a result of this union … Continue reading The “Re-Encarnacion” of NARA’s Records