Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Sixteen-year-old boys loved her. Parents of 16-year-old boys did not. Yes, long before Hugh Hefner donned his trademark smoking jacket, before Larry Flynt shocked a nation with Hustler, there was Miss Flossie Lee. In the 1890s, the Augusta, Maine, entrepreneur ran … Continue reading Before Playboy, there was Flossie
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Between negotiating the Compromise of 1850, stymieing southern attempts to turn Cuba into a state, protecting Hawaii from French interests, and working to open up Japan for trade, President Millard Fillmore also appointed Brigham Young as the first governor of … Continue reading Fillmore, Utah. Population 2,150
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. There are few artist in America who so greatly affected the popular landscape as Thomas Nast who was born 170 years ago today. Jolly old St Nick? Not so jolly before the Harper's Weekly cartoonist plumped him up. The Grand Old … Continue reading The doodler who defied crooks and democratized donkeys
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. On this day in 1916, the National Park Service was formed within the Department of Interior.
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. For those keeping tabs on the King, the 33rd anniversary of Elvis Presley's death came and went yesterday. As we here at Pieces of History are always interested in sharing tidbits from the Archives that may otherwise go unnoticed, we … Continue reading A funny thing happened while searching for Elvis
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Last week we asked our readers to share photos that match up with some old images we have in our library. We got two responses that really show just how much things have changed in Washington, DC. See our then … Continue reading Your photos, then and now
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Hurricane Alex hit Mexico. Torrential rain overflowed Massachusetts. Flash floods devastated Arkansas. When the debris settles after such natural disasters, families will have to search their belongings for forms and documents that prove who they are and what they own. … Continue reading Here to help: How to protect and recover your documents from disaster
I'm beginning to wonder if we even covered the Civil War at all in AP History. Before joining the National Archives, I had never heard of the Battle of the Crater, did not know that Confederate ships sailed all over the world, and had no idea that the Civil War had a draft and you … Continue reading New York State of Mind–er, Archives
Oil is washing up onto the shores of Louisiana and Florida. But these are not the only American shores to suffer environmental catastrophe from oil spills. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes took an unusual turn over the East Coast. After passing over Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, the storm swung back over the Atlantic and … Continue reading It’s not the Gulf, it’s the Schuylkill
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. We've all seen the photo of when Nixon met Elvis, but the King wasn't the only celebrity President Nixon brushed shoulders with. Can you identify the famous soccer player in this picture? Enter your guess below and then click on … Continue reading Soccer fans, do you know who this player is?
