For the thousands of immigrants from Europe, the entrance to America was through Ellis Island. As they sailed by New York City, they could see the Statue of Liberty standing in the harbor like a watchful guardian. For immigrants from China and the Pacific Rim, another type of guardian awaited them in San Francisco Bay. They would … Continue reading Ellis Island on the West Coast
These might look like two gentlemen out for a stroll in the early twentieth century, but the well-bearded gentlemen on the right is William Duncan, founder of Metlakahtla, a Utopian community. The man on the left with the mustache is Sir Henry S. Wellcome, who founded the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Company, which later became … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Utopia above the Lower 48
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Eve Warner takes the cake as the caption contest conquistador this week. Those of us in the Washington, DC, area who have experienced a spate of power outages over the month can certainly sympathize with the defrosting deluge that occurs … Continue reading Thursday’s Photo Caption Contest
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. While the Constitution does not say who is eligible to vote, it does say who is eligible to run for Congress. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five Years, and been … Continue reading Women can’t vote, but they can run for Congress
Did you catch Mugged! Facing Life at Leavenworth at the National Archives at Kansas City this summer? The exhibit may be closed now, but you can learn more about the prison, its inmates, and its records in this new article from Prologue. And it's not too late to see some more mug shots from the exhibits. Check … Continue reading You can grow a mustache, but you can never leave
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
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. When Washington Post reporter Christian Davenport uncovered the headstones of American veterans lying in a murky stream bed at Arlington National Cemetery this month, NARA's National Personnel Records Center was solicited to help identify one of the partially legible grave markers. … Continue reading NPRC helps solve headstone riddle at Arlington National Cemetery
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. The New York Times called it "engrossing and eminently fascinating." The Richmond Times Dispatch said "Discovering the Civil War" "isn't your typical Civil War retrospective." And the Neue Zurcher Zeitung called the National Archives' newest exhibit, "einer grandiosen Ausstellung in … Continue reading Swiss you were here!
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Few individuals had a more, ah, peculiar relationship with their mother than Norman Bates in the movie Psycho, which premiered 50 years ago today in New York City. The movie was a one-of-a-kind in terms of suspense and shock, but … Continue reading Mother–she isn’t quite herself today
