Did you know that the 13 Presidential libraries are part of the National Archives? The National Archives is a nonpartisan agency, and we care for all the paper and digital records—as well as Presidential gifts and other items—that are part of the President's legacy. These documents are preserved and made accessible at the 13 Presidential … Continue reading The Presidents are expecting you!
Americans are used to waiting in line for things they really want: tickets to a rock concert, a World Series game or a controversial new movie, for example. At the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, this week some people waited all night for a brief look at one of the nation's most historic documents --- the … Continue reading Waiting All Night for a Look at History
How could we choose between captions about skunk cabbage, the effects of fiber, and manly weeping? We asked Mitchell Yokelson, Investigative Archivist at the National Archives and author of books on military history, to look into the matter. Congratulations to Kim B! After careful investigation, Mitch found your succinct summary of the situation to be the funniest. Check your e-mail … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
To celebrate our new exhibit “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” we are featuring a food-related blog post every Wednesday. Today's post comes to us from the National Archives at New York City. “Do you know that the money spent in the United States for candy in one year is double the amount required to feed Belgium … Continue reading What’s Cooking Wednesday: Pull out that sweet tooth!
In 2011, a lone gunman opened fire at a political event in Tucson, Arizona, killing six and severely wounding Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. In the aftermath of the tragedy, a federal judge ruled that the suspect charged in the Tucson shooting “was not mentally competent to stand trial.” The attack and the later legal ruling were not … Continue reading “Not guilty by reason of….”
On June 20, 1893, Lizzie Borden was declared innocent of the crime of murdering her father and stepmother. The National Archives holds a little piece of her history from before the murders. A month before her 30th birthday, Lizzie Borden of Fall River, Massachusetts, had sailed for Europe. In the late 1800s, more and more … Continue reading Lizzie Borden took a….trip
In 1885, the French ship Isere arrived in New York City. On board the ship were the pieces of an enormous woman, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States in recognition of many decades of friendship. These pieces (paid for by the French) were reassembled over four months on an … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Vive le Goatee!
Torn between termites, easy bake ovens, and Terrifying Woodchuck Airlines, we asked a guest judge to make the final call! Congratuations to Burble, who has won 15% off at our eStore! Alice Kamps, the curator of "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" thought the reference to a Faster-Than-Light drive was the funniest by light years. And while … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
Like most boys from Missouri, Harry Truman developed simple tastes in food as he was growing up—especially things like his mother's fried chicken and that great American budget-friendly staple, meatloaf. According to the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, the 33rd President also liked corn bread with Missouri sorghum, all kinds of fowl, and Ozark pudding, which included … Continue reading Meatloaf by candlelight? Not for this President.
If you opened the the New York Times this morning in 1971, you would have seen the first part of the secret "Pentagon Papers" that the newspaper published—without authorization from the government. Today in 2011, the National Archives and the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Presidential libraries will release the entire official Report of the Office of … Continue reading The Pentagon Papers, now online after 40 years
