Russell Lee’s Coal Survey Exhibit

On Saturday a new exhibit opened in the National Archives Building, Power & Light: Russell Lee's Coal Survey. It will run in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery until July 6, 2025. This exhibit features more than 200 of Russell Lee’s photographs of coal miners and their families.  Russell Lee, 1935. (Photo courtesy of the Library … Continue reading Russell Lee’s Coal Survey Exhibit

The Bracero Program: Prelude to Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement

Today’s post, from Alyssa Moore in the National Archives History Office, is in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month and looks at the legacy of the Bracero Program. From 1942 to 1964, millions of migrant workers crossed the border from Mexico into the United States as braceros, a Spanish word for a “laborer who works … Continue reading The Bracero Program: Prelude to Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement

Was Ike a secret New Dealer?

Today’s post is from Jim Worsham, editor of Prologue magazine, the quarterly of the National Archives. Was Dwight D. Eisenhower—the architect of the allied victory over the Nazis in World War II and our President during the peaceful 1950s—a secret New Dealer? Eisenhower, elected President as a Republican in 1952, brought in with him a Republican-controlled Congress. … Continue reading Was Ike a secret New Dealer?

Artists at work in the National Archives

We've got lots of artists in the building today. If you visit the National Archives Building from December 2 to 6, you can partake of history and do your Christmas shopping and support local artists and support the programs of the National Archives! The holiday fair is officially titled "The Way We Worked" American Artisans Fair. Local … Continue reading Artists at work in the National Archives