Check here for the latest happenings at the National Archives.
Cast your vote for the 26th Amendment to be displayed first in the new “Records of Rights” gallery. Polls close on November 15! Congress can move quickly. The 26th Amendment was ratified in 100 days, faster than any other amendment. In April 1970, Congress controversially lowered the voting age to 18 as part of legislation to … Continue reading Records of Rights Vote: “Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote”
Now is your chance to ask Steven Spielberg a question on Twitter using the hashtag #askspielberg! Over the next few weeks, Ken Burns will handpick several tweets and share the questions with the movie director. Spielberg will answer the questions at the at the Foundation for the National Archives 2013 Gala and Records of Achievement Award … Continue reading Free Film Festival in honor of Steven Spielberg
Cast your vote now for the 14th Amendment to be displayed first in the new Rubenstein Gallery. Today’s post comes from Jessie Kratz, the Historian of the National Archives. Why should the 14th Amendment be ranked first on any list of most important documents? A constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship for all, Federal protection of … Continue reading Records of Rights Vote: The 14th Amendment
The Siamese-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce is on display from September 20 to October 31, 2013, (new extended display time!) in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Today's post comes from education and exhibit specialist Michael Hussey. The start of official diplomacy between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Siam … Continue reading On display: Siamese-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce
Our new Featured Document--Oliver Perry's letter to the Secretary of the Navy--will be on display from September 10 to 19, 2014, at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Today's blog post was written by former student employee Meghan O'Connor. Early in the War of 1812, the Americans lost control of Detroit and Lake Erie to … Continue reading “A Signal Victory”: The Battle of Lake Erie
In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Liberties Act, the original Executive Order 9066 as well as the 1988 law are on display in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, from June 16 to August 19, 2013. Today's blog post comes from curator Bruce Bustard. “Here we admit a … Continue reading On display: Executive Order 9066 and the Civil Liberties Act of 1988
Today’s post comes from Sara Holmes, supervisory preservation specialist at the National Archives in St. Louis. (The images below are from the National Archives at St. Louis, with a special thank you to Capt. Dave Dubowski of the Spanish Lake Fire Department and the late Chief Bob Palmer of Mehlville Fire Department.) What happened after … Continue reading One fire, 5 days, and 381 men
Over 5,000 requests for veterans' military personnel records are received every day at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, MO. Donna Judd spends each day carefully searching for valuable information for veterans in the documents left burned and brittle by the 1973 fire at the NPRC building. She looks for separation documents … Continue reading Burned and brittle records are in good hands
Every year, we celebrate Independence Day on the steps of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. It's a fun, free event for the whole family! (And if you don't like the heat, you can now watch the program live from inside the National Archives building. Email specialevents@nara.gov to reserve a seat in our air-conditioned … Continue reading What are you doing on July 4?
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2013 Research Fellowships! Fellows will be doing research at six of our archival facilities across the country. These fellowships are funded by the Foundation for the National Archives. The National Archives at Boston Claire M. Dunning, a graduate student at Harvard University, will be doing research for "Neither Public Nor … Continue reading Congratulations to our 2013 Research Fellows!
