Today's post comes from Ashley Mattingly, an archivist at the National Archives in St. Louis. The year was 1943, and Elizabeth “Betty” Maxine Chambers was a young mother and a widow. Betty’s husband, Army pilot Lt. Robert William Chambers, had died in 1942 when his P-38F Lightening aircraft crashed at Mills Field in San Mateo, … Continue reading A WASP’s Story
Today's blog post comes from Michael Hussey, education and exhibit specialist at the National Archives. What do Sean Penn and Ronald Reagan have in common? Probably not a whole lot besides Harvey Milk. In 2008, Penn played the role of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk in the Academy Award–winning film Milk. In 1978, former Governor … Continue reading My name is Harvey Milk—and I want to recruit you.
Today's post comes from Nikita Buley, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is located in Simi Valley, California—about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles—and holds over 60 million pages of documents, 1.6 million photographs, hundreds of thousands of feet of audiovisual material, and … Continue reading Archives Spotlight: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
Some time ago, a Facebook fan expressed thanks that we would never combine our First Ladies Friday with our Facial Hair Friday. To which we replied, never say never! Of course, the facial hair in this photograph is not on First Lady Pat Nixon, but that scraggly surfer goatee is in very close proximity to … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Hang ten, Pat Nixon!
“What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?,” our current special exhibition in Washington, DC, examines the Government’s effect on what Americans eat. Government influence was especially visible during wartime, when many food products were reserved for feeding the troops and our Allies. During World War I, the U.S. Food Administration, headed by Herbert Hoover, urged the American people … Continue reading World War I food conservation: “Pan de la libertad”
Who knew that legs emerging from a plane would inspired so many captions about lost earrings, carnivorous aircraft, and close quarter combat? We went straight to the top for this one, and asked Debra Steidel Wall, our newly named Deputy Archivist, to be our guest judge. Congratulations to Towner B! Check your email for a … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
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
Congratulations, Teresa Martin Klaiber, for bringing a smile to the face of Gwen Granados, our guest judge from the National Archives at Riverside. She shared this photograph with us, and we all agreed it was eminently caption-worthy. (Teresa, if you send an e-mail to prologue@nara.gov, I can send you your 15% discount code to use at … Continue reading Thursday caption contest
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Call him John. Call him Mr. Poppins. But do not call him neglectful of his strict skin-care regime. Or so says this week's winner, Janis! So what was the story with our parasoled paratrooper? This photo is from the Records … Continue reading Thursday’s Photo Caption Contest
