The nation's record keeper. Visit: https://visit.archives.gov
We welcomed our millionth visitor for 2016!
Alex Dunwoodyis 8 years old and a rising 3rd grader from Darien, Illinois. The Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero, welcomed Alex and his family as they entered the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.
This was Alex’s his first visit to the Archives, and he was joined by his parents, David and Wini, and brother, Nicholas. They were thrilled to meet the Archivist and have a special tour of the exhibits.
Happy Birthday to the National Archives! The act creating the National Archives was signed on June 19, 1934, by President Roosevelt. The creation of a national archives for the United States had begun earlier, however. In 1926 Congress appropriated $6.9 million (later increased to $8.5 million) for a national archives building.
The building was designed as a “temple of history” by John Russell Pope, the architect who designed the National Gallery of Art and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The original plan for the National Archives Building had a courtyard into the center of the building. (It was quickly filled in to provide more storage space.) Ground was broken for the National Archives on September 9, 1931, and President Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone of the building in February of 1933.
Construction was a huge task: installation of specialized air-handling systems and filters, reinforced flooring, and thousands of feet of shelving were needed to meet the building’s archival storage requirements. The exterior took more than 4 years to finish. But the number of records kept growing, and in 1993 a second National Archives building in College Park, MD, added 1.8 million square feet for storage of records.
The National Archives now also includes 13 Presidential libraries and many regional archives and temporary records centers across the country. You can read more about our history and our holdings here: http://go.usa.gov/vBW
Alex Haley looking at the North Carolina census during his 1977 visit to the National Archives. (National Archives and Records Service 1977 Annual Report, Records of the National Archives)
The “Roots” of Genealogy at the National Archives
By Jessie Kratz, Historian of the National Archives | Pieces of History
In 1964, writer and historian Alex Haley visited the National Archives to research his family history. Looking in the 1870 census records for Alamance County, NC, he was able to confirm some details he heard through his family oral histories. This set him on a 13-year journey to find his family’s origins in Africa.
From his research he published the book Roots: The Saga of an American Family in 1976. The novel is based on the lives of six generations, starting with perhaps the most well-known character, Kunta Kinte, who was captured in Gambia and brought to America to be sold into slavery.
The book became a best seller and the following year was adapted into an extremely popular television miniseries that sparked a national interest in genealogy.
This was the scene this morning in the Rotunda at the National Archives as our guests woke up after a fun night of history at our first #ArchivesSleepover.
Kids and their parents enjoyed a special night playing games, writing with quill pens, meeting best-selling author #BradMeltzer, learning about the Constitution from #CokieRoberts, and talking with reenactors playing Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, and Phyllis Wheatley.
A big thank you to our visitors, special guests, National Archives staff, and staff from the Foundation for the National Archives for a great night!
Do you want to learn more about the history and architecture of National Archives Building in Washington, DC? Join us online Thursday, May 24, 2018, at noon for a Facebook Live tour of the building’s exterior. For more information, follow us on Facebook!
On each side of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC (on Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues), sit two 65-ton statues. Each statue is more than 10 feet high and, with their bases, tower 25 feet above the sidewalk.
They were carved from 1934 to 1935, and each came from a single piece of Indiana limestone. The sculptors and carvers worked on site in temporary structures created for them.
Because the stones were so large and heavy, they had to be brought by train to Washington from Indiana on specially designed flat cars.
Rough block of stone from which one of the National Archives statues was carved, 1934. (Stone Magazine)
Rough block of stone from which one of the National Archives statues was carved, 1934. (Stone Magazine)
Read more about the other giants over at Pieces of History. Which of the four “guardians” is your favorite?
Senior curator Bruce Bustard and exhibit designer Ray Ruskin talk about the ideas and the creation of our exhibit “Attachments,” which uses immigration records from the National Archives to tell the story of people entering America’s gate.
The video also features Erika Lee and Michael Pupa talking about their experiences finding a piece of their own personal history in the National Archives.
Letter from Walt Disney Productions to the National Archives, April 7, 1958. (Records of the National Archives)
Lights, Camera, Archives!
By
Joseph Gillette, archivist | Pieces of History
For many people, the National Archives’ media presence begins and ends with the movie National Treasure. But the Archives has been a centerpiece to many media productions in its history. This was certainly the case during the Golden Age of television—the 1950s and 1960s.
A Mouse in the House (well, almost …)
In 1958, Walt Disney Productions contacted the National Archives with a request. Disney was producing an hour-long show called “The Liberty Story,” during which the Revolutionary War story of Johnny Tremain would be told, interspersed with narrative from Walt Disney himself. This narrative would be spoken over images of the Declaration of Independence, including its transfer from the Library of Congress to the National Archives in 1952.
Students from the District of Columbia share their research project at the annual National History Day competition, held at the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC. More than 325 students competed for the chance to move on to the national competition in June. (National Archives photo by Amber Kraft)
Archives Hosts Annual DC National History Day
By Kerri Lawrence | National Archives News
Each year, the National Archives and Records Administration hosts middle and high school students from the nation’s capital for National History Day. This year, more than 325 middle and high school students from the District of Columbia gathered at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, on April 10-11, to enrich their understanding of history and share their research on everything from Linear B—the written language of the ancient Minoans—to women’s fashion in the 1920s, Japanese American internment during World War II, and the tragedy of 9/11.
National History Day is a year-long academic program focused on historical research, interpretation, and creative expression. By participating, students become writers, filmmakers, web designers, playwrights, and artists, as they create unique contemporary expressions of history.
More than 2,000 DC-area students from public, charter, independent, and home schools participate each year—with more than half a million middle and high school students participating nationwide, according to the nonprofit educational organization National History Day.
March is #WomensHistoryMonth and March 8 is International Women’s Day. The National Archives is celebrating with special programs on women throughout the month.
Learn more about these programs and our extensive online Women’s History Month resources.
December 15 is Bill of Rights Day, which commemorates the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Today’s post comes from Bailey Martin from the National Archives History Office.
December 15, Bill of Rights Day, is an important day for the National Archives because it is the one day of the year specifically set aside to acknowledge one of our nation’s most important documents—the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Though not a holiday in the traditional sense, its importance lies in the fact that it reminds the people of the United States of the magnitude and significance of a document that protects our most fundamental rights.
In 1999, nearly 50 years after first going on display in the Rotunda, the National Archives announced a renovation for the home of the Charters of Freedom (the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights).
🏀 The 2025 NCAA Basketball Tournament tips off soon as 68 teams compete for the championship. As the brackets take shape, the National Archives has a slam dunk of its own—historical basketball records!
Huddle up and get your game plan ready to view our Basketball special topics page for patents, posters, team photos, and Presidential pick-up games. There are enough records in our Catalog that you might have to plan for overtime.
