We Will Be Remembered: Taylor Swift’s Grandfathers and Their Unsung Military Service

Today's post was written by Katherine Terry, archives technician at the National Archives at St. Louis Keep your helmet, keep your life, son Just a flesh wound, here’s your rifle Crawling up the beaches now “Sir, I think he’s bleeding out” And some things you just can’t speak about - “epiphany” In the vast landscape … Continue reading We Will Be Remembered: Taylor Swift’s Grandfathers and Their Unsung Military Service

A Tale of Two Memos

Morgan Fox was a summer intern in the Archives 1 Processing Section in Washington, DC. During my internship in the Archives 1 Processing Section, I had the opportunity to work on various projects to help make records more accessible to researchers.  One of the first projects involved the creating of a folder list for a … Continue reading A Tale of Two Memos

Handwritten letter admitting to theift of item from haunted house

Haunted House Hijinks in the Highlands: Or Sailors in Trouble with Scottish Authorities

Today’s post was written by Nick Baric, a processing Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. In May of 1918 a group of American sailors detached to a base at Kyle of Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands found themselves in a bit of hot water. They faced accusations of removing a jewel box from a … Continue reading Haunted House Hijinks in the Highlands: Or Sailors in Trouble with Scottish Authorities

New Webpage for D-Day Records

Today’s post is written by Scott Ludwig, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park Today marks the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, which was part of the larger Operation Overlord and the first stages of the Battle of Normandy, France (also referred to as the Invasion of Normandy) during World War II. It was a crucial … Continue reading New Webpage for D-Day Records

Building a Better Christmas: The U.S. Corps of Engineers Wives Club Santa Claus Shop

Today's post is written by Cody White, an archivist at the National Archives at Denver Christmas is often a time for charity, the bringing of holiday cheer to those less fortunate, and one such heartwarming tale can be found at the National Archives at Denver in the most unlikely of record groups; RG 77 Records of the … Continue reading Building a Better Christmas: The U.S. Corps of Engineers Wives Club Santa Claus Shop

The Curse of Hindsight: December 7, 1941

Today’s blogger is Stephanie Stork, a summer 2013 intern in the Archives I Reference and Processing Sections who worked with Navy records. Working at the National Archives this past summer as an intern with the Old Navy/Maritime Reference staff allowed me to work with an array of exciting documents, which I’ve come to appreciate as … Continue reading The Curse of Hindsight: December 7, 1941

Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries

By Onaona Guay The Know Your Records series aims to inform our readers of the types of records in our holdings, the information found in those record types, and the process by which researchers can request/get access to these records. Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Muster Rolls/Personnel Diaries U.S. Navy muster rolls and personnel diaries … Continue reading Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries

Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Deck Logs

By Onaona Guay Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Deck Logs U.S. Navy deck logs and muster rolls are among the most popular U.S. Navy records in our holdings. Archivists here at Archives II frequently consult these records to answer researcher requests. Considering their popularity, we thought it might be helpful to dive a little deeper … Continue reading Know Your Records: U.S. Navy Deck Logs

Researching the War of 1812: Where to Begin

By T. Juliette Arai As 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, the Reference staff at Archives 1 want to provide a glimpse of some of the series that we have in our custody relating to this conflict.  The following list may assist researchers who want to locate records pertaining to the War of 1812.  Please … Continue reading Researching the War of 1812: Where to Begin

From College Park to Edinburgh: 30 Days with the National Collection of Aerial Photography

Today's post is written by Tom McAnear, a processing archivist in College Park. Tom is participating in the Archival Development Program, an in-house multi-year training course for all of NARA's archivists. As part of my Archival Development Program (ADP) training I recently completed a 30-day rotation in June at the National Collection of Aerial Photography … Continue reading From College Park to Edinburgh: 30 Days with the National Collection of Aerial Photography