As we move into the new year, we’re looking back on the most popular posts published on Pieces of History in 2021. We would like to give a big thank-you to the National Archives staff who work so hard to Make Access Happen through their numerous contributions. And thank you all for sticking with us … Continue reading Top 10 of 2021
Today's post comes from Dorothy Dougherty, Programs Director at the National Archives at New York City. By current estimate, the National Archives has over 5 million cubic feet of traditional records in its holdings. Those textual records include manuscripts, memorandums, official business letters, and even the occasional personal letter. Today’s post features one such personal … Continue reading Across and Down: An Unusual Civil War Letter
Today’s post comes from Thomas Richardson, an archives technician at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The U.S. Armed Forces have been deployed all over the world, serving in conjunction with foreign militaries carrying out operations for a host of reasons: combating insurgency and enemy regimes, humanitarian relief, and joint training exercises, … Continue reading Valor from Abroad: Foreign Awards in the U.S. Armed Forces
Today's post comes from Maria Adamson, a history education graduate student at Temple University. Maria interned with the National Archives at Philadelphia virtually this fall as a part of the Cultural Fieldwork Initiative (CFI), a partnership with the Temple University College of Education Social Studies faculty and more than 30 regional cultural institutions. The Research … Continue reading Chinese Exclusion and the 1899 National Export Exposition: Imagining the View from Inside an Ethnographic Showcase
Today’s post comes from Thomas Richardson, an archives technician at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It is part of a series on records at the National Personnel Records Center. Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces can be beautifully complex and informative. New awards are established, and existing ones … Continue reading Recognizing Service: How to Determine Entitlement to Medals
Today’s post comes from Thomas Richardson, an archives technician at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the part of a series on records at the National Personnel Records Center. In 1973, when an infamous fire ripped through the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, thousands of records were … Continue reading Honoring Heroes: The Award Card Record Series
Today’s post comes from Thomas Richardson, an archives technician at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO. It's the first in a series of posts on the National Personnel Records Center. Special thanks to Bryan McGraw, Director of the Personnel Records Division, whose interview provided historical information about the center following the fire, … Continue reading Becoming Bigger and Better: The NPRC After the Great Fire of 1973
We're wrapping up Irish American Heritage Month. Today's post comes from Chris Gushman, Archives Director, and Dorothy Dougherty, Programs Director, at the National Archives at New York City. The National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) Access to Archival Databases (AAD) launched nearly 20 years ago, providing free public access to several series of government records … Continue reading Exploring Irish History Through the Famine Files and Other Arrival Records
November 11 is Veterans Day. Visit the National Archives website for more resources on records related to Veterans. Today's post comes from Grace Schultz, an archivist at the National Archives at Philadelphia. Did your immigrant ancestor naturalize after serving in World War I? If so, you may have used NARA’s Index to Naturalizations of World … Continue reading Using NARA’s Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers
Today’s post comes from Tessa Campbell, senior curator at the Hibulb Cultural Center located on the Tulalip Reservation. The Tulalip Reservation is located in the State of Washington, 30 miles north of Seattle, and is the name of a place; not the name of a people. Their current exhibit, The Power of Words: A History … Continue reading The Birth of an Eternal Document: The Point Elliott Treaty
