The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) officially opens on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall. It is the 19th and newest Smithsonian Institution museum and is devoted to documenting African American life, history, and culture. The museum was established by a December 16, 2003, act of Congress, but efforts to create … Continue reading On Exhibit: An Act to establish the NMAAHC
Today’s post comes from Sonia Kahn in the National Archives History Office. It is part four of a series on the history of some of the seized foreign records housed at the National Archives. Imagining Germany in April 1945 conjures up images of destruction and despair as the war in Europe drew to a close … Continue reading The German Naval Archives: Tambach
Today’s post comes from Grace DiAgostino, an archives technician in Research Services at the National Archives at Philadelphia. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is one of the most infamous hate groups in American history. Founded in the aftermath of the Civil War as a social club, the KKK throughout the 19th and … Continue reading Evidence Exposed a Crumbling Klan: KKK v. John F. Strayer et. al.
Today’s post comes from Sonia Kahn in the National Archives History Office. It is part three of a series on the history of some of the seized foreign records housed at the National Archives. Following World War II, German documents captured during the war were kept in the custody of the United States and Great … Continue reading The Return of Captured Records from World War II
Today’s post comes from Sonia Kahn in the National Archives History Office. It is part two of a series on the history behind some of the seized foreign records housed at the National Archives. The story of what would become the original documents to compose Record Group 242, Foreign Records Seized, begins in 1943 as … Continue reading The Seizure of European Records during World War II
Today’s post comes from Sonia Kahn in the National Archives History Office. It is part one of a series on the history behind some of the seized foreign records housed at the National Archives. When you think of the holdings at the National Archives, it’s likely that three prominent documents immediately come to mind. After … Continue reading The Gems of Record Group 242 – Foreign Records Seized
Today’s post comes from Andrew Grafton in the National Archives History Office. Independence Day in the United States is celebrated on July 4, the day the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence. If you ask just about any American, they can correctly identify that date. What is less commonly known, however, is that … Continue reading Making It Official: The Day the Declaration of Independence Was Signed
Today's post comes from Jim Zeender, Registrar on the National Archives Exhibits Staff. On June 1, my colleagues Alexis Hill, Warren Halsey, and I culminated about nine months of work with a visit to the Lincoln Cottage on the grounds of the Old Soldiers Home. Terry Boone and Bill Nenichka had participated in previous trips. A … Continue reading The 1986 Immigration Act and My Lifetime Relationship with the Lincoln Cottage
Today’s post comes from Christine Blackerby, Outreach Specialist in the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Could a person who had sworn an oath to the Confederacy later loyally serve the United States? One hundred and fifty years ago, the U.S. Senate wrestled with this question for the first time. When states … Continue reading What is Loyalty?: David Patterson’s Oath of Office
Today's post comes from Andrew Grafton in the National Archives History Office. In a nation as large and as diverse as the United States, it is rare to find something that nearly half of its citizens have in common. Though the U.S. economy supports a variety of different careers, there is one job that almost … Continue reading A Celebration of Moms and Dads: National Parents’ Day
