The National Archives was created on June 19, 1934. During the month of June, the National Archives History Office is sharing stories about the former Archivists of the United States. Today's post is from Sarah Basilion. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Robert D.W. Connor the first Archivist of the United States in 1934, Connor faced … Continue reading Our First Archivist, Robert D.W. Connor
Opened in 1935, the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, was created to hold the nation’s most important and influential documents in American history. The National Archives History Office has produced a new online exhibit on the National Archives Building, which is available in Google Cultural Institute. In the 19th century, historians and elected officials … Continue reading New Online Exhibit: The Temple of our History
In 1797, President George Washington designated two acres in the heart of Washington City for use as a public marketplace. For the next 134 years, Center Market was a Washington D.C. landmark on Pennsylvania Avenue, until it was demolished in 1931 to make way for the National Archives Building. The National Archives History Office has produced … Continue reading New Web Exhibit on Center Market
Today’s post comes from Rebecca Brenner, an intern in the History Office at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. For almost a half-century, the National Archives has held an annual birthday party on July 4, at the document’s home at the National Archives in Washington, DC. This timeline marks the significant milestones in Archives Fourth … Continue reading Annual Birthday Party for the Declaration of Independence
Hanging in the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance lobby of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, is a small plaque with the names of four men: Ralph Leroy Dewsnup, Charles Edward Lewis, Julius Mayers and Augustus Julius Siko. These four men were National Archives employees who died serving the United States during World War II. In 1946 the National … Continue reading National Archives War Memorial Plaque
On April 12, 1965, a small group of people gathered at the triangular plot on Pennsylvania Avenue near the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. They were family and close friends of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and were assembled to dedicate a memorial to the late President on the 20th anniversary of his death. The memorial … Continue reading The other FDR Memorial
On February 20, 1933, President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover left the White House by car just before 2:30 p.m. with an escort of nine motorcycle policemen. Their destination was the corner of 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, to lay the cornerstone of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. The event … Continue reading Temple of Our History
This photo from August 29, 1954, shows the National Archives Building lit up for the very first time, its beautiful columns and attic story glowing while onlookers gather to witness the occasion. Surprisingly, while other Washington, DC, landmarks were illuminated, the National Archives stood dark every night for the first 19 years it was open. … Continue reading Illuminating the National Archives
Visitors to downtown Washington, DC, on December 13, 1952, were treated to an interesting sight—armored vehicles escorted by a barrage of military and police personnel. It wasn’t a holiday or the Presidential motorcade or a visiting dignitary. On that chilly December morning, passersby saw the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States … Continue reading Carting the Charters
On Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany officially surrendered to the Allied Forces at the end of World War II. That same day in the United States, President Harry S. Truman issued a proclamation announcing the war in Europe had ended. Soon after, Archivist of the United States Solon Buck and President … Continue reading Surrender? Nuts!
