The National Archives History Office continues to celebrate Women’s History Month with stories of former employees. Today’s post comes from Kaitlin Errickson. Elizabeth Hamer, 7/31/1951. (National Archives Identifier 12167572) Elizabeth “Betty” Hamer Kegan was an archival pioneer. As a founding member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and lead supporter of the Freedom Train, … Continue reading Elizabeth Hamer Kegan: Educator and Innovator
The National Archives History Office is celebrating Women's History Month by featuring past employees. Today's post comes from Sarah Basilion. Trudy Peterson, 1988. (National Archives Identifier 35810833) Trudy Huskamp Peterson was appointed Acting Archivist of the United States in March 1993, following the departure of Archivist Don W. Wilson, who left to head the new … Continue reading Acting Archivist Trudy Huskamp Peterson
The National Archives History Office is celebrating Women's History Month by featuring past employees. Today's post comes from Hailey Philbin. Mabel Deutrich. (National Archives Identifier 12170444) “Deutrich’s only disadvantage in this respect lies in her being a woman.” Imagine hearing this and inevitably realizing that your career ambitions would be restricted because of your gender. … Continue reading Ms. Archivist
This photo was taken in 1966 in the Auditorium at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It’s the Miss Archives Contest. Yes, that really happened. And no, there was not a Mr. Archives Contest. It is an appropriate commentary on the status of women in the National Archives from its founding in 1934 through the … Continue reading Clio was a woman: Trailblazers at the National Archives
Today's post comes from Ashley Mattingly, who is an archivist at the National Archives at St. Louis, where she manages the collection of archival civilian personnel records. The most well-known lighthouse keeper in the world was an American woman who was a Federal civil servant. Ida Wilson Lewis, lighthouse keeper of Rhode Island, saved somewhere … Continue reading Ida Wilson Lewis, lighthouse keeper and fearless Federal worker
In honor of Women's History Month, I want to celebrate one of our most cherished former employees—Sara Dunlap Jackson. After I was appointed Historian, numerous local historians approached me to say that I just had to research Sara Dunlap Jackson because she was so important to the history of the agency. Archivist Sara Jackson, 1955. … Continue reading Sara Dunlap Jackson: Archivist Extraordinaire
Today's post for Women's History Month comes from Jessie Kratz, Historian of the National Archives. I was intrigued when Alan Walker discovered those wonderful ID cards of former Archives employees in Record Group 64. I noticed many were women, which makes sense given the time period, and thought it would be nice to highlight a … Continue reading Margaret M.H. Finch, War Records Keeper
Today's guest post comes from Margaret Powell, MA, a decorative arts historian from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her areas of concentration are textile and costume history. She is a graduate of the Smithsonian Associates–Corcoran College of Art and Design History of Decorative Arts Masters Program. On September 13, 1953, the New York Times featured the wedding of … Continue reading The Remarkable Story of Ann Lowe: From Alabama to Madison Avenue
One man in last week's picture wasn't happy, but all your comments made us smile! Our guest judge is Jackie Budell, an archives specialist who supervises groups of devoted volunteers who are currently processing the Civil War Widows files, an enormous project with thousands of documents that need to be carefully handled--you never know what … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest: March 22
