Burnt in memory: Looking back at the 1973 St. Louis fire

This blog post is condensed from the article “Burnt in Memory,” by Marta G. O’Neill and William Seibert, from the Spring 2013 issue of Prologue. By the time it was daylight on July 12, 1973, at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, one thing was painfully clear: the loss of records to … Continue reading Burnt in memory: Looking back at the 1973 St. Louis fire

Application Denied!

Today's blog post was written by Sam Rushay, a supervisory archivist at the Truman Presidential Library. In the late summer of 1945, Frances Sarah Curtis of Mt. Rainier, MD, applied for a White House pass. Curtis, a Treasury Department employee in the Bureau of Public Debt (BPD), had worked in the White House File Room … Continue reading Application Denied!

Honoring the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”

Today's post comes to us from Michael Hussey, education and exhibition specialist at the National Archives.(He's also a speaker at tonight's program!) Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913. In honor of her centennial, "Public Law 106-26, An Act to authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the Congress to … Continue reading Honoring the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”

A glimpse into the Civil War experience of Company F

Today's blog post comes from Mary Burtzloff, archivist at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. The black leather-bound journal had water stains and mold around the edges. It looked a bit icky, but the contents of the Civil War journal fascinated me. One hundred and fifty years after our nation’s bloodiest conflict, we are  reminded … Continue reading A glimpse into the Civil War experience of Company F

Getting Ike into the Loop

Today's post comes from Christopher Abraham at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. “I am a newspaper reporter and I would like to know if anything unusual happened during either of President Eisenhower’s inaugural ceremonies.” —Anonymous   Have you ever seen a U.S. President lassoed by a cowboy? It likely qualifies as “unusual!” General Eisenhower related this … Continue reading Getting Ike into the Loop

The Check is in the Mail: The Hunt for Abraham Lincoln’s Congressional Pay Records

Today's blog post comes from David J. Gerleman, assistant editor of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln’s two-year stint as a Illinois Whig congressman is one of the lesser-known periods of his eventful life. Had he remained in obscurity, it might have remained the crowning achievement of a fizzled frontier political career. Having been … Continue reading The Check is in the Mail: The Hunt for Abraham Lincoln’s Congressional Pay Records