A history of US exploration
Today’s post comes from Lori Norris, an archives technician at the National Archives at College Park. The Polar Expeditions records, which this post is based on, includes papers, journals, and artifacts from Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. Held at the National Archives at College Park, these records were donated mostly from the explorers or their families. … Continue reading Mystery of the Arctic Ice: Who was First to the North Pole
Today’s post comes from Dorothy Dougherty, Programs Director at the National Archives at New York City. Matthew Henson, the famous African American explorer, worked nearly 20 years with Admiral Robert Peary exploring the Arctic. On April 6, 1909, Henson and Peary successfully made it to the North Pole, where Henson is credited with placing the U.S. … Continue reading New York City U.S. Custom House Employee: Matthew Henson
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
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
Today's post comes from Keith Donohue, communications director for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives. This post originally appeared on the White House blog. What was the original intent behind the Constitution and other documents that helped shape the nation? What did the Founders of our country have to say? … Continue reading The Papers of the Founding Fathers Are Now Online
This story originally appeared in the Fall 2009 issue of Prologue magazine. Herman Melville's classic American novel, Moby-Dick, was first published in the United States on November 14, 1851. In Moby-Dick and his earlier books, Melville called upon his own experience aboard whaling ships, most notably his 18 months spent aboard the Acushnet, sailing out … Continue reading Herman Melville: A Voyage into History
If you are planning to attend our event next week on crowdsourcing, you will hear a presentation by Jessica Zelt from the U.S. Geological Survey’s North American Bird Phenology Program. My colleague here in the office was editing the text for this event. She thought her husband, an avid bird watcher, might be interested in the … Continue reading It’s a bird, it’s a beard, it’s Audubon!
When Robert Peary wrote "The pole at last!!!" into his diary on April 6, 1909, he had no idea that his claim would be disputed for the next several decades by experts who doubted that he and Matthew A. Henson were the first men to reach the North Pole. Marie Peary Stafford had no such doubts, … Continue reading “The pole at last!”
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. In the summer of 1942, the Allies' war against Japan was in dire straits. China was constantly battling the occupying Japanese forces in its homeland, supplied by India via the Burma Road. Then Japan severed that supply artery. Planes were … Continue reading The OSS and the Dalai Lama
If you have been reading Pieces of History, you know that the National Archives holds many unusual records. But when I started working here, I was excited to learn that we hold the papers of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, at the Hoover Presidential Library. The childhood adventures of Laura Ingalls Wilder, especially her first … Continue reading Little house in the big archives
