Top Ten of 2022

As we say goodbye to 2022, we’re taking a look at the most popular posts of the year. We would like to thank the National Archives staff who have worked so hard this past year to Make Access Happen through their numerous contributions. 

10. In 10th place comes a post for Constitution Day—Drafting the U.S. Constitution looks at the versions of the Constitution printed secretly for use by the Constitutional Convention’s delegates.

9. Siblings, But Not Twins: Researching at the National Archives and the Library of Congress, by Callie Belback, looks at the differences between these two major research institutions.

8. He’s creepy and he’s cooky, mysterious and spooky, he’s altogether ooky, he’s Private Charles Samuel Addams: Creator of the Addams Family, the subject of a Halloween post by Thomas Richardson.

7. Coming in at number seven is Hispanic Heritage Month: Sonia Sotomayor, a post by Callie Belback about the first woman of color and Hispanic American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. 

6. In April the National Archives released the 1950 Census, and we did a series on the history of census records and the National Archives. In sixth place is Public Access to Census Records at the National Archives, which provides a history of census openings at the National Archives. 

5. On May 30, 2022, the Lincoln Memorial turned 100 years old. Our fifth place post, John Russell Pope’s Lincoln Memorial designs, is an update to a 2014 post by Christina James. 

4. In 2022 we started a series highlighting past staff members and their many contributions to National Archives history. In fourth place is Historical Staff Spotlight: Mary Walton McCandlish Livingston, a post about the woman who became famous for uncovering the backdated deed for Nixon’s pre-Presidential materials donation.

3. Third place comes from Lori Norris. Her post, Mystery of the Arctic Ice: Who was First to the North Pole highlights the Polar expeditions records at the National Archives at College Park.

2. In second place, as part of a series on records at the National Personnel Records Center, Thomas Richardson’s post, Contact, Brawls, and Chambering: The Combat Action Ribbon, explains how you tell the difference between those who served in combat and those who didn’t.

1. Capping off a big year for the census, our number-one post of 2022, Census Records: The 72-Year Rule, explains the rule governing the release of the census information. 

Want to know what the most viewed posts in 2022 were? All these posts were published before this year but still get a ton of views:

• Vietnam: The First Televised War
• The Iran Hostage Crisis
• Hitler’s Final Words
• Prohibition and the Rise of the American Gangster
• Little Boy: The First Atomic Bomb