Today's post is by College Park processing archivist Alan Walker. True story: Thursday, March 28 was shaping up to be a typical day. I had before me a cart’s worth of boxes full of case files from the Department of Justice that needed to be listed for a spreadsheet of “temporary” files to be disposed. These … Continue reading On the Waterfront, or, The Smell of Discovery
By Jason Clingerman On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. While this was a major milestone in ensuring that no one could “deny or abridge the rights of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race and color,” violations of individual voting rights … Continue reading Enforcing the Voting Rights Act
On October 26, 1881, a 30-second gunfight became the stuff of legend. Today marks the 130th anniversary of the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral, and to commemorate the occasion, Katie Beaver, a summer intern in textual processing, wrote the following post. One of the most well-known stories of the “Wild West” comes from Tombstone, Arizona: … Continue reading How the West was Won: Marshal Dake, the Earp Brothers, and the Tombstone Shootout
Today's post was written by Katie Beaver, who spent her summer interning with textual processing. The latter half of the nineteenth century is notorious among American historians for shady and tumultuous politics, particularly during presidential elections. The U.S. Marshal Service during this time was charged with monitoring polls on election days to ensure that the … Continue reading Elections and Connections: The Appointment of Phoebe Couzins, the First Female Marshal
Today's post was written by Katy Berube, who spent her summer interning in textual processing. A U.S. President’s signature, Civil War veterans, and a 19th Century labor strike…oh my! Box 273 of the Appointment Files for Judicial Districts 1853-1905 (National Archives Identifier 734590) was the last box I examined for possible records of interest to digitize … Continue reading The Last Box
This post was written by Katy Berube, who was a summer intern in textual processing. When Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves began to sing softly to himself, people who knew him ran for cover. An uncommon reaction, you might think, but from many accounts it was best to steer clear of a singing Bass Reeves as … Continue reading Legends in the “Twin Territories”
This post was written by Katie Beaver, a student intern working with civilian records. It is a follow-up to A few good lawmen. The American South was a particularly tumultuous area after the Civil War and during the occupation of the U.S. Army. Slaves became freedmen and gained the rights of citizenship per the Constitution. … Continue reading The U.S. Marshal Service and The Supreme Court
This post was written by Katy Berube, a student intern working in civilian processing. It is a follow-up to the post A few good lawmen. As guns unloaded into British subject and cattle investor, John H. Tunstall, in the dusty, remote hills of the New Mexico Territory on February 18, 1878, the grab for power … Continue reading Deputy Marshal v. Deputy Marshal
Today's post is written by Denise Henderson. A few months ago, I was asked to locate a record about Pat Garrett, the famous sheriff who killed Billy the Kid in 1881 when cowboys and cattle thieves made the West wild and dangerous and a place in serious need of law enforcement. Understanding the index to, … Continue reading A few good lawmen
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
