Strange-but-true stories surrounding the Cold War-era
Today’s post comes from Garet Anderson-Lind from the National Archives History Office. Fifty years ago, one of the greatest enterprises in human history began: the Apollo Space Program. Through the collective effort of a nation, it was going to put a man on the Moon. While many here in the United States are aware of … Continue reading One Giant Leap: The Apollo Space Program at 50
Today’s post comes from Sanjana Barr from the National Archives History Office. In 1959, the U.S. State Department received a curious memo from the new U.S. Embassy in Nepal concerning the regulations for Yeti hunting. The Himalayan Yeti, a mythological creature often compared to Bigfoot, achieved international infamy in the 1950s. Western climbers ascending Mount … Continue reading On Exhibit: The “Yeti Memo”
In April 1952 Congress ordered the Library of Congress to transfer the Declaration of Independence and Constitution to the National Archives. The two documents were to go on public display in the National Archives Building along with the Bill of Rights, which was already at the Archives. While the Archives exhibition hall had been specifically … Continue reading Protecting the Bill of Rights: the Mosler Vault
Today’s post is from Jim Worsham, editor of Prologue magazine, the quarterly of the National Archives. Was Dwight D. Eisenhower—the architect of the allied victory over the Nazis in World War II and our President during the peaceful 1950s—a secret New Dealer? Eisenhower, elected President as a Republican in 1952, brought in with him a Republican-controlled Congress. … Continue reading Was Ike a secret New Dealer?
October is American Archives Month! We're celebrating the work of archivists and the importance of archives with a series of blog posts about the Presidential libraries. The records created by Presidents while in office will become part of the National Archives, and eventually will be used by researchers. Here's how it happens! Today’s post comes … Continue reading Ernest Hemingway and the JFK Library
A new movie due for release next month tells the story of a special unit of Allied soldiers in Europe at the end of World War II. They were charged with finding and savings works of art and other cultural artifacts that the Nazis had seized. Officially, this unit was called the Monuments, Fine Art, … Continue reading Monuments Men Coming to the National Archives
The reports were among the thousands of pieces of paper waiting to be processed in a group of 100 boxes. But a few pieces of paper—with schematics that looked like they were right out of a 1950s sci-fi flick—were destined for a featured article in Popular Mechanics. But first the documents were spotted by Michael … Continue reading Flying Saucers, Popular Mechanics, and the National Archives
Today's blog post in honor of Memorial Day comes from Michael Pierce, preservation technician at the National Archives at Saint Louis. It’s called “the Forgotten War.” But like any conflict, the Korean War is always remembered by the men and women who fought in it, and by their families. The Preservation Lab at St. Louis … Continue reading It’s why I do what I do
Once upon a time, space was quiet. This was before satellites had cluttered the orbit of the earth, beaming TV shows and text messages and GPS coordinates. Before 1958, space was very quiet. On December 18, 1958, the Air Force placed the first communications satellite, a Project SCORE relay vehicle, into orbit. And then, on … Continue reading Merry Christmas from Space!
When Harry S. Truman Library Director Mike Devine flew to Seoul, South Korea, the last thing he expected to see was an enormous outdoor exhibit featuring photos from the holdings of the National Archives. “In the last decade or so, we’ve had quite a number of researchers from Korea to the Truman Library to copy … Continue reading Korean War exhibit in Seoul features National Archives images
