This post was originally published as an article by Trevor Plante in the Spring 2015 issue of Prologue magazine. Trevor K. Plante is chief of the Reference Services Branch at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. He is a supervisory archivist who specializes in 19th- and early 20th-century military records and is an active lecturer and a frequent … Continue reading Ending the Bloodshed: The Last Surrenders of the Civil War
Today’s guest post comes from Robert Lee Tringali, program analyst at the National Archives. Starting on July 1, the last three days have marked the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the Civil War. In particular, today marks the anniversary of Pickett’s Charge, the defining event of the battle. The … Continue reading The 150th anniversary of Pickett’s Charge
Today's post comes from our summer intern Caroline Isleib. The Battle of Gettysburg raged 150 years ago today, and many lives were lost or forever changed by the Civil War. It was a war that ripped our country apart and, in quite a literal sense, pitted brother against brother. “This was never more true than … Continue reading At Gettysburg: Brother v. Brother
This week saw the 150th anniversary of the first Battle of Manassas, with hundreds of reenactors and spectators ignoring the extreme heat and coming to the Virginia battlefield. There was another, stranger Civil War anniversary today. On July 22, 1975, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore full American citizenship to … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Amnesty for this beard, 100 years later
January 31, 1865, was a busy day for the war-torn United States. The House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery. Meanwhile, Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate armies. On January 31, 1919—50 years to the day after slavery was abolished—Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. On April 10, 1947—82 years after the … Continue reading Baseball and the 13th Amendment
