Are you thinking of starting to research your family tree? Or maybe you're wondering how to use bounty land warrants to find your ancestors? Or do you're confused on how to search immigration records? The National Archives has programs and resources for beginning and expert genealogists. And one way to use these resources, regardless of where you are … Continue reading Social Media for Genealogists
This Sunday is the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. To commemorate the event, the National Archives is displaying a program from the march in the East Rotunda Gallery and screening The March on August 27 and 28. But if you are not in Washington, DC, you can still watch the entire film on our YouTube … Continue reading From Our Film Archives: “The March”
Today's post comes from Gregory Marose, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. Americans often associate the month of August with family vacations and the summer heat, but that was not the case in 1961. Fifty years ago this month, a Cold War chill filled the air as construction began on … Continue reading The Berlin Wall, now a vital piece of history
Want a waffle with that earthshake? All Virginia earthquake jokes aside, today is a momentous day indeed. On this day in 1869, Dutch American Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York, received a U.S. patent for the first waffle iron. Described as simply a “device to bake waffles,” the waffle iron was heated over a coal … Continue reading What’s Cooking Wednesday: National Waffle Day
This coming Sunday is the dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial on the National Mall. It's also the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington, when King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to the assembled thousands. As I looked at the program from the day and then at some … Continue reading March on Washington: A. Philip Randolph
Julius Henry Marx--better known by his stage name Groucho Marx--passed away on August 19, 1977. He left behind a legacy of humor on stage, radio, and film. I was not able to find to find any images of him in our holdings, which was disappointing as his trademark mustache was a fine candidate for Facial … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: A mustache, a funny man, and a President
Last week's photo may have sparked some of our funniest captions yet! As soon as we started reading about the ill-fated Florence in Apple Jacks, cereal killers, and the Shotz Brewery, we knew choosing a winner would be tough. So we turned to Denise Henderson, who blogs about her finds in the records over at … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
It's finally time to announce the randonly chosen winner of our Potatriots contest! But first, a big thank you to the visitors who participated in our Potatriots activity--and a big thank-you to our staff and interns who put out those potatos, pipe cleaners, and historic backgrounds every day. We had lots of fun posting our Potatriots online … Continue reading Potatriots: Our winner!
We interrupt our usual hairy programming to bring you this musical interlude. What could be so important that we would skip mustaches, beards, and goatees? Well, today marks the anniversary of the Washington, DC, premiere of This Is the Army, with songs written (and one performed) by Irving Berlin. You would easily recognize Irving Berlin's … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: A Musical Interlude
We had a hard time choosing this week between captions that suggested ill-fated monkey-navigated flights or included the phrase "monkey hairdo." Finally we turned to a man of impeccable taste, Brian Barth, who is the man behind the art direction and graphic design of the recipe book Eating with Uncle Sam: Recipes and Historical Bites from the … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest–August 11
