Facial Hair Friday: The Enumerated Mustache

Don't be fooled by the sleepy demeanor of this mustachioed man. It's 1933, and the world is changing. And the Federal Government would be recording these changes on April 1, 1940. Over 120,000 enumerators would fan out across 48 states and 2 territories, with copies of this Federal Decennial Census Population Schedule. They would use … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: The Enumerated Mustache

Going Digital: The 1940 Census Hits the Web and YouTube

Today's post comes from Gregory Marose, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. On April 2 at 9 a.m. (EDT), the National Archives will launch its first-ever online U.S. census release. By visiting 1940census.archives.gov, internet users can access a digitized version of the entire census, including more than 3.8 million images of … Continue reading Going Digital: The 1940 Census Hits the Web and YouTube

More Hitler art albums discovered

This morning in Dallas, TX, the Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero, Senior Archivist Greg Bradsher, and President of the Monuments Men Foundation Robert M. Edsel announced the discovery of two original albums of photographs of paintings and furniture looted by the Nazis. The Monuments Men Foundation will donate these albums, which have … Continue reading More Hitler art albums discovered

Thursday Photo Caption Contest: March 22

One man in last week's picture wasn't happy, but all your comments made us smile! Our guest judge is Jackie Budell, an archives specialist who supervises groups of devoted volunteers who are currently processing the Civil War Widows files, an enormous project with thousands of documents that need to be carefully handled--you never know what … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest: March 22

Lucy Ridsdale and the Titanic Tragedy

Today's post comes from Christopher Zarr of the National Archives at New York City. At first glance, some of our records may not grab your attention. Take for instance, two documents labeled Exhibit C and D. Exhibit C is a ticket from 1912 for excess luggage, and Exhibit D is a claim coupon to pick up one's bags … Continue reading Lucy Ridsdale and the Titanic Tragedy

Facial Hair Friday: When Irish mustaches are smiling

Happy St. Patrick's Day! With all the hoopla over the upcoming release of the 1940 census on April 2, we haven't really been thinking about facial hair all that much. But then fellow National Archives staff member Jeannie (of the OurPresidents tumblr blog) sent me this photograph, and genealogy, facial hair, and St. Patrick's Day all … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: When Irish mustaches are smiling

Thursday Photo Caption Contest: March 15

If things look ugly in this picture, it's nothing compared to our office when we tried to pick a winner for last week's nautical naughtiness. We turned over the responsibility to guest judge Mark Mollan, who has been a Navy/Maritime Reference Archivist for 9 years at the National Archives. Mark is used to tackling large projects: he … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest: March 15

A Public Enemy’s Life in the Fast Lane

Today's post comes from Gregory Marose, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. The National Archives is known for maintaining and preserving documents like the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. But among America’s historic documents, there are also records of bank robbers, bootleggers, and gangsters. In this week’s “True Crime at … Continue reading A Public Enemy’s Life in the Fast Lane

Thursday Photo Caption Contest: March 8

Your captions were as sweet and delicious as cold beer on a hot summer's day! And we knew just who to ask to serve as guest judge: beer enthusiast and information technology specialist Crystal Brooks. Even though Crystal modestly claims to still be a novice when it comes to home brewing, we knew that she … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest: March 8

History Crush: Susan B. Anthony

Today's History Crush guest post comes from the National Archives staff in New York City. Sara Lyons Pasquerello, education technician, and Angela Tudico, archives technician, don't care about clichés! Their love for this suffragist will never falter—and might even expand! As we enter Women’s History Month, it is only fitting that we reveal our history crush—Susan … Continue reading History Crush: Susan B. Anthony