Strange-but-true stories from the First World War
To celebrate our new exhibit "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" we are featuring a food-related blog post every Wednesday. Today's post comes from Christopher Zarr at the National Archives in New York City. The National Archives maintains the primary source documents of the U.S. Food Administration (USFA). Thousands of documents illustrate the local sacrifices and quality … Continue reading What’s Cooking Wednesdays: Eat your peas in NYC
"What's Cooking Wednesday" continues with this post from our colleagues at the National Archives at Denver. These Wednesday features celebrate our new exhibit "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" which opens on June 10 in Washington, DC, and looks at the role that the Federal Government has taken in food production, safety, advertising, and nutrition. It's hard to … Continue reading Cooking for your family and your allies
Today's an eggs-ellent day in Washington, DC, for young people! It's the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, where hundreds of children gather to roll eggs and play games on the South Lawn of the President's House. But the tradition did not start at the White House. It began on the lawns and terraces of the … Continue reading An Egg-centric White House Tradition
President Woodrow Wilson’s campaign slogan throughout his 1916 reelection campaign was "he kept us out of war," but on April 2, 1917, Wilson reversed course and called on Congress to provide a declaration of war for American intervention in World War I. Although this shift in policy contradicted Wilson’s isolationist principles and firm commitment to … Continue reading The “Wilsonian” Path to War
Archivists handle fascinating records, but the people who lived the lives recorded in the documents are even more fascinating. Such was the life of Frank Buckles, who passed away on February 27, aged 110. Buckles's passing means that there are no longer any living American servicemen who fought during World War I. Any memories and experiences from … Continue reading The last doughboy: In memory of Frank Buckles
I was worried I would never find love at the National Archives. When Scribd.com approached my office about promoting Prologue magazine by creating a collection of romantic records for their Valentine's Day "Eat Say Love" event, I was very doubtful. Would I be able to find enough romance in the records to put together a … Continue reading Romance in the Records
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. It's been called the nectar of the gods, but it may soon be called the nectar of Starbucks. The giant coffee chain is now selling wine (and beer) in a few test stores in Seattle in an attempt to expand … Continue reading Wine, for all your expeditionary needs
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. When it comes to casualty statistics, we often compare wars. In World War II, it's estimated that 50 million were killed. During the Civil War, over a half million people lost their lives. In World War I, nearly 16 million were … Continue reading Gesundheit!
At 1:28 p.m. on September 28, 1924, two planes landing in Seattle made history. The Chicago and New Orleans had flown 26,345 miles in 66 days to become the first airplanes to circumnavigate the globe. Four planes had started the journey on April 6, but the Seattle and Boston had been forced down over Alaska and … Continue reading 1924 round-the-world fliers complete their mission
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. John "Black Jack" Pershing turns 150 today. Of the man there is too much to be said in a blog post like this—there was that whole bit as the leader of the American Expeditionary Forces with World War I, for … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Black Jack
