Today's post comes from Kaitlin Errickson of the National Archives History Office. May 25, 2016, marks the 90th anniversary of the Public Buildings Act of 1926, without which the National Archives Building would not exist as it does today. The road to 1926 was a rough one—many papers and archives were destroyed throughout the 19th … Continue reading The act that gave us a National Archives
We are wrapping up our celebration of Black History Month. Today’s post comes from Hailey Philbin. On a sunny day in 1944, young Sara Jackson walked along the noisy DC streets right into the National Archives and asked for a job. Sara Dunlap Jackson receiving the Houston Civil War Round Table's Frank E. Vandiver Award, … Continue reading The Wild, Wild West . . . of Pennsylvania Avenue
Opened in 1935, the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, was created to hold the nation’s most important and influential documents in American history. The National Archives History Office has produced a new online exhibit on the National Archives Building, which is available in Google Cultural Institute. In the 19th century, historians and elected officials … Continue reading New Online Exhibit: The Temple of our History
Today’s post comes from Rebecca Brenner, an intern in the National Archives History Office in Washington, D.C. July marks the 25th anniversary of the historic moment when President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA prohibits employers, the government, and transportation, among other agencies and institutions, from discriminating against … Continue reading Towards Freedom and Equality: The Americans With Disabilities Act
In 1797, President George Washington designated two acres in the heart of Washington City for use as a public marketplace. For the next 134 years, Center Market was a Washington D.C. landmark on Pennsylvania Avenue, until it was demolished in 1931 to make way for the National Archives Building. The National Archives History Office has produced … Continue reading New Web Exhibit on Center Market
Today’s post comes from Rebecca Brenner, an intern in the History Office at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. For almost a half-century, the National Archives has held an annual birthday party on July 4, at the document’s home at the National Archives in Washington, DC. This timeline marks the significant milestones in Archives Fourth … Continue reading Annual Birthday Party for the Declaration of Independence
Hanging in the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance lobby of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, is a small plaque with the names of four men: Ralph Leroy Dewsnup, Charles Edward Lewis, Julius Mayers and Augustus Julius Siko. These four men were National Archives employees who died serving the United States during World War II. In 1946 the National … Continue reading National Archives War Memorial Plaque
To commemorate Memorial Day, the National Archives has released a short video about the importance of the holiday. Timed for the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s death and the upcoming sesquicentennial of the 1866 founding of the Grand Army of the Republic (the fraternal organization of Union Civil War veterans), the National Archives created … Continue reading National Archives commemorates Memorial Day with video
On April 12, 1965, a small group of people gathered at the triangular plot on Pennsylvania Avenue near the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. They were family and close friends of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and were assembled to dedicate a memorial to the late President on the 20th anniversary of his death. The memorial … Continue reading The other FDR Memorial
Today's post comes from Zach Kopin, an intern in the National Archives History Office in Washington, DC. A new exhibit on America’s connection to alcohol is now on display at the National Archives. “Spirited Republic: Alcohol and American History” is about the United States’ love-hate relationship with the “demon rum.” Bruce Bustard, the exhibit's curator, … Continue reading On Exhibit: “Lady Hooch Hunter”
