Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. On March 2, 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed PL 70-952. That law authorized the War Department to arrange for trips, designated as pilgrimages, by the mothers and widows to the overseas graves of soldiers, … Continue reading Passports and Travel Documents for Pilgrims: Gold Star Travel
By Jason Clingerman Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman made use of Thanksgiving throughout his career to highlight timely political issues near the holiday. Below are two examples of his Thanksgiving-themed cartoons: Delegates of the allied powers met in Washington after World War I to conduct peace negotiations. In this 1921 cartoon, Berryman utilizes the day before … Continue reading Cartoonist Clifford Berryman on Thanksgiving
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
By Jason Clingerman What do Walt Disney, Ernest Hemingway, and Whitney Houston have in common? They all served with the American Red Cross! Disney served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in France during World War I. Likewise, Hemingway served as an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I. In fact, Hemingway's service was … Continue reading Uncle Walt, Papa, and The Prom Queen of Soul
By Jason Clingerman On January 7, 1919, the same day the Christmas Uprising started in Montenegro, members of the American National Red Cross (ANRC) arrived in Montenegro to provide relief to civilians after World War I and the Austro-Hungarian occupation of the country. This relief effort was known as the Commission to Montenegro. This commission … Continue reading The Full Montenegro
Today's post is by Lee Preston, a National Archives volunteer. During the Cold War, I was drafted into the U.S. Army and in 1955-56 stationed in Verdun, France. Verdun is the principal city of the Meuse River valley, a historic corridor of aggressive contact between French and German interests. The Verdun area had been fortified … Continue reading Lessons from Verdun
Today’s post is the second in an occasional series where we will highlight some of the work of our volunteers. Jean Onufrak is a volunteer with the Volunteer Office at the National Archives at College Park. When you think of the term “chemical weapons”, you probably think of their use nowadays in terrorist actions or contentious … Continue reading How World War I Also Became Known as The Chemist’s War
