Today's guest post is from Edith Lee-Payne. The dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr., memorial will take place this Sunday, October 16. One of the women in attendence will be Edith Lee-Payne. You might recognize her. Photographer Rowland Scherman snapped a photo of Edith, then a 12-year-old girl with her mother, holding a banner at the March on … Continue reading Finding the girl in the photograph
We're excited to announce that you can now play with historic records outside the National Archives Building! The Foundation for the National Archives, the National Archives’ nonprofit partner, has partnered with mobile gaming company SCVNGR to build a game that lets you experience our historic records in the very places where their creators lived and worked. … Continue reading Get your smartphone–we’re on SCVNGR!
Choosing this week's winner was a difficult as balancing a hat on a burro, so we turned to Mary Ryan, who has seen many strange yet historic images from the holdings of the National Archives in her role the managing editor of Prologue magazine. Congratulations to Kim! Check your e-mail for a code for 15% off in the … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884. She was the niece of former President Theodore Roosevelt, and later became the wife of future President Franklin D. Roosevelt (her fifth cousin). She is known for her role as First Lady during the Great Depression and World War II. She was the first woman in that … Continue reading Eleanor Roosevelt, what’s in your wallet?
If you're planning to travel this Columbus Day holiday (and it was, like, 1835), you might thank this guy for building the first steam locomotive in the US: Peter Cooper—inventor, industrialist, and one-time Presidential candidate. But, most important for our purposes, Cooper was the owner of a truly remarkable beard. Impressive facial hair is an asset … Continue reading Facial Hair Fridays: Free education and facial hair for all
Since last week's photo came from holdings at the National Archives at Chicago, we thought, what could be more appropriate than getting one of our Windy City colleagues to be our guest judge? Regional Office Management Assistant Mary Ann Zulevic stepped in for the duty and, after much deliberation, debating, and pondering, picked this genealogical … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
Since it's fall and October, our thoughts naturally turned to Oktoberfest as a possible topic for What's Cooking Wednesdays. However, one too many encounters with Upton Sinclair's letter to President Teddy Roosevelt about the working conditions in meat factories had us avoiding the bratwurst. And, apparently, drinking beer in the office is hugely frowned upon by the management. So … Continue reading What’s Cooking Wednesdays: The case of the buttered pretzel
Herbert Hoover—successful businessman, international humanitarian, President during the Crash of 1929—and rugged mustachioed mining engineer? Yes, Bert Hoover started his career in the goldfields of Australia in 1897–1898. He then headed to China to develop coal mines, and he and his wife, Lou, were there during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Fun fact: Herbert is … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Herbert the Handsome
Since this week's photo featured President Harry S. Truman, we turned to Tammy Kelly, an archivist at the Truman Library, to pick our winner for the photo contest. She has firsthand knowledge of this photo since she is the one who cataloged the doll into the Truman Library's computerized system earlier this summer. Tammy picked John … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
This week's edition of What's Cooking Wednesday comes from Kathleen Crosman, an archivist at the National Archives at Seattle. Those who manned fire lookout towers were essentially camping out for weeks at a time. They had to pack their rations, which were mostly canned or nonperishable food, and prepare what meals they could. Today’s high-tech, … Continue reading What’s Cooking Wednesdays: Lookout cookouts
