U.S. National Archives

A beautician styles a customer’s hair at the Truman Plaza beauty parlor, 2/12/1990. NARA ID...

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 13:01:30 -0400

A beautician styles a customer’s hair at the Truman Plaza beauty parlor, 2/12/1990. NARA ID 6460762.

Navy barbers give crew members a trim in the enlisted barbershop on the battleship USS IOWA, 2/1/1986. NARA ID 6420264.

SHOTS AT THE SHOP!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
President Biden today announced Shots at the Shop, an initiative to engage Black-owned barbershops and beauty salons nationwide to boost COVID vaccinations and outreach in communities of color. Of course we have related records!

Learn about Madam C.J. Walker, a pioneer of the African American beauty industry and groundbreaking entrepreneur:

A’Lelia Bundles, journalist, historian, author, and National Archives Foundation Board member, is the great-great-granddaughter of Madam C. J. Walker. Bundles’ book On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, was the “inspiration” for Self Made, the 2020 Netflix series.

Madam C.J. Walker in the National Archives - A'Lelia tells Madam Walker’s story with help from National Archives records.
Meet Madame C.J. Walker, The National Archives Comes Alive: Young Learners Program.
A’Lelia Bundles Live! - A’Lelia discusses the Netflix series Self Made

USN Air Traffic Controller Airman Shandre Forte receives a fresh haircut from USS Kitty Hawk Ships Serviceman Redmond, 1/13/2001. NARA ID 6610232.

U.S. Navy Ship’s Serviceman 2nd Class Darrayll Ezell puts finishing touches on haircut for airman Moses Rodriguez, barber shop aboard Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier USS JOHN C. STENNIS, 1/26/2007. NARA ID 6704265.

Caption: “arriving in Australia, the first Negro nurses to reach these shores try bicycle riding...

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 08:51:36 -0400

Caption: “arriving in Australia, the first Negro nurses to reach these shores try bicycle riding near their quarters in Camp Columbia, Wacol, Brisbane.” 268th Station 2nd Lts: L-R: Beulah Baldwin, Alberta Smith, & Joan Hamilton. 11/29/1943. NARA ID 178140880.

Friday - #ArchivesOnWheels #ArchivesHashtagParty!

We’re rolling into June with #ArchivesOnWheels this Friday, June 4 on Twitter and Instagram!

Patent Drawing for J. O. Lose’s One Wheeled Vehicle, NARA ID 6277782.

Surefootin’ film, 1978. NARA ID 2990051.

1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy - Firestone Homestead Visit, NARA ID 24694.

Let’s get on our bikes, trikes, unicycles, and skateboards and ride into the next hashtag party! Archives and museums around the world will share photos, film clips, artifacts, and illustrations of the way we use wheels to get a-round. From Model-Ts to roller skates, we’re going to take you on a wheely great tour of historic holdings!

“Red Record of Lynching Map,” 1889-1921. (NARA ID 149268727).“— were dead. Figures are...

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 12:49:31 -0400

“Red Record of Lynching Map,” 1889-1921. (NARA ID 149268727).

“— were dead. Figures are omitted [because] NO ONE KNOWS.” —Red Cross Report

People Standing Amid Rubble in the Greenwood District, 6/1/1921, Image from Tulsa Red Cross Photo Album of the Tulsa Massacre and Aftermath, NARA ID 157688056.

#OTD in 1921: The Tulsa Massacre

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs.

Even long after the Civil War, thousands of African Americans were hanged, burned and shot to death, beaten, and tortured by white mobs who celebrated these atrocities and were rarely prosecuted for their crimes. In 1918, Rep. Leonidas Dyer of Missouri submitted a bill (HR 13) to establish lynching as a federal crime. Dyer said that lynching—and the refusal by localities and states to prosecute the perpetrators—violated victims’ 14th Amendment rights.

Petition to Congress insisting on passage of the 1922 Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill. (National Archives Identifier 119652195).

Petitioners promised President Harding that by signing the anti-lynching bill into law, “you will immortalize your NAME like the illustrious Lincoln when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”

Following congressional action on child labor and Prohibition, Rep. Dyer appealed to his Hill colleagues and questioned their priorities:

If Congress has felt its duty to do these things, why should it not also assume jurisdiction and enact laws to protect the lives of citizens of the United States against lynch law and mob violence? Are the rights of property, or what a citizen shall drink, or the ages and conditions under which children shall work, any more important to the Nation than life itself?

While his bill faltered, racial violence intensified and increased. Black servicemen who had fought for their country in World War I came home to an outbreak of racial violence known as the “Red Summer” because of the extent of bloodshed. The Tulsa Massacre of 1921 was one of the worst instances of mass racial violence in American history. The violence centered on Tulsa’s Greenwood District (aka “Black Wall Street”), a commercial area with many successful Black-owned businesses. In 24 hours, hundreds were killed, thousands displaced, and 35 city blocks were burned to ruins.

The Tulsa Chapter of the American Red Cross aided many victims and compiled a report with photos of riot scenes, devastated areas, National Guard troops, destroyed homes, dead victims, and massacre survivors in temporary housing. Warning: Some images are graphic and viewers might find them disturbing.

Black Wall Street: 100 Years Since the Tulsa Race Massacre

Featured Document Display, April 1–June 17, 2021.
Remembering the Tulsa Race Massacre, National Archives News

Learn more in Rediscovering Black History:

Additional online resources:

National Archives Records on Civil Unrest and the Red Summer
U.S. House: Anti-Lynching Legislation Renewed
National Archives News special topics page: African American History
Resources for African American Research
Eyewitness account of the Tulsa massacre by attorney Buck Colbert Franklin (John Hope Franklin’s father) in Smithsonian Magazine
G.W. Hutchins v. City of Tulsa et. al.

Image of a Holocaust refugee, records of the International Refugee Organization, National...

Thu, 27 May 2021 14:25:03 -0400

Image of a Holocaust refugee, records of the International Refugee Organization, National Archives.

#OTD 1939 - The St Louis is turned away in Cuba

“The Voyage of the Damned”

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

#OTD in 1939, the St Louis - a German ocean liner carrying 937 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany - was turned away in Cuba. They had left from Hamburg two weeks earlier, hoping to reach Cuba and then travel to the US. The ship was forced to return to Europe, where more than 250 of the refugees were killed by the Nazis.

The National Archives is the international epicenter of Holocaust-related research, with millions of government records documenting Nazi war crimes, refugee issues, and investigations relating to looted assets (including gold, art, and cultural property)—as well as captured German records used as evidence at the Nuremberg Trials. See our Holocaust-related online resources here.

Read about the impact of a single record on Michael Pupa, a child Holocaust refugee from Poland.

An Orphan of the Holocaust: His Journey to America

Holocaust refugee Michael Pupa, age 13, from his pre-Naturalization hearing file at Bad Aibling displaced persons camp in Germany.

Relief organizations helped to feed, clothe, identify, and resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees, many of whom were “stateless.”

Jewish child refugees liberated by the 71st Infantry from Gunskirchen Lager, a German concentration camp near Lambach, Austria. NARA ID 531345.

See also:

Records relating to World War II–era refugees
Resources for Jewish genealogy
Holocaust-era assets
Using Primary Sources to Teach About Americans and the Holocaust

“Unidentified butterfly or moth caterpillar in the Virgin Islands,” U.S. Fish and...

Thu, 27 May 2021 08:45:45 -0400

“Unidentified butterfly or moth caterpillar in the Virgin Islands,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NARA ID 166693082.

WE REMEMBER ERIC CARLE

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

In memory of children’s book author Eric Carle, who died Sunday at age 91, we share an eclectic mix of caterpillar-related records from our holdings, including quotes from Founding Fathers Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin!

“Close view of Monarch butterfly larvae on Common Milkweed leaf,” Fish and Wildlife Service, NARA ID 166712292.

Founding Fathers on very hungry caterpillars

All from FOUNDERS ONLINE, National Archives’ National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

John Adams on very hungry caterpillars:

Having met naturalist Pierre Lyonnet, John Adams wrote to wife Abigail of his fascination with caterpillars:

Have you an Inclination to read and inspect Cutts of the Anatomy of Caterpillars—their Nerves, Blood, Juices, Bones, Hair, Senses, Intellects &c. &c.—Their moral Sense, their Laws, Government, Manners and Customs.

I dont know whether he [Lyonnet] teaches the manner of destroying them, and Saving the Apple tree.

I doubt not the Book is worth studying. All Nature is so.—But I have too much to do, to Study Men, and their mischievous Designs upon Apple Trees and other Things… (letter from John to Abigail, July 25, 1782).

Thomas Jefferson on very hungry caterpillars:

a caterpillar is devouring the crops of latter wheat Southwestwardly of us, and as far as this river. I have not heard of it further N. Eastwardly. it eats off the whole foliage, it also attacks the corn & tobacco, & indeed the weeds of various kinds. (letter from Jefferson to Madison, May 30 1806).

Ben Franklin on very hungry caterpillars:

We hear from several Parts of the Country, that infinite Multitudes of black Worms or Caterpillars coming out of the Earth, threaten Destruction to the late promising Crops of Corn and Grass; large Fields being in a Day or two cut down and devoured by them, and the Ground laid bare. (from Franklin’s Gazette, May 27, 1742).

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar, Fish and Wildlife Service, NARA ID 166698244.

First Lady Laura Bush reads “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to kids in a Chicago hospital, 5/14/2001, Bush (43) Library, NARA ID 172544254.

Books, Boots & Bridles: The Packhorse LibrariansIf you liked Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of...

Wed, 26 May 2021 11:57:39 -0400

Books, Boots & Bridles: The Packhorse Librarians
If you liked Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of Stars, you’ll LOVE this program TODAY at 2pm (ET)!

Watch on Facebook or YouTube!

During the Great Depression, this Works Progress Administration New Deal program brought books to eager readers in the far corners of Appalachia. FDR Library Education Specialist Jeffrey Urbin shares the story of FDR’s Pack Horse Library initiative and the Pack Horse Librarians of Appalachia, carried out almost entirely by women. LIVE Q&A to follow!

Pack Horse Librarians, WPA records, 1/11/1938, FDR Library, NARA ID 48728414.

“Booneville, Owsley County, KY. Pack Horse Librarian returning of the mountain side for a new supply of books to be distributed to rural and isolated sections of the county.” NARA ID 148728410.

In 1936, packhorse librarians served 50,000 families, and, by 1937, 155 public schools. Children loved the program; many mountain schools didn’t have libraries, and since they were so far from public libraries, most students had never checked out a book. “‘Bring me a book to read,’ is the cry of every child as he runs to meet the librarian with whom he has become acquainted,” wrote one Pack Horse Library supervisor. “Not a certain book, but any kind of book. The child has read none of them.”–from story by Eliza McGraw.

Pack Horse Librarian Delivering Books to Children, 1/11/1938, WPA records, FDR Library, NARA ID 148728416.

Original Caption: “Mill Creek, Knott County, KY. Completing her mission at a lonely mountain cabin, the Pack Horse Librarian turns up the trail toward similar cabins where she is anxiously awaited” 1/11/1938, NARA ID 148728424.

See also:

Horse-Riding Librarians Were the Great Depression’s Bookmobiles, Smithsonianmag.com story by Eliza McGraw.
The Pack Horse Librarians Of Eastern Kentucky, NPR interview with then-97-year-old former pack horse librarian.
The Women Who Rode Miles on Horseback to Deliver Library Books: Librarians are amazing, Atlas Obscura story by Anika Burgess.

Senator John Warner and Elizabeth Taylor greet Queen Elizabeth and President Ford at the White House...

Wed, 26 May 2021 09:40:12 -0400

Senator John Warner and Elizabeth Taylor greet Queen Elizabeth and President Ford at the White House 7/7/1976. Online. Related Ford Library story.

John W. Warner Jr. speaks in the National Archives Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, 9/13/1965. NARA ID 74227096.

Chief Justice Earl Warren and John W. Warner Jr. Unveil the Magna Carta at the “Great Instruments of Law” exhibit opening, 9/13/1965. NARA ID 74227094.

John Warner, head of the American Bicentennial Administration, at the National Archives on Constitution Day with Archivist James Rhoads, RIF kids, VP Nelson Rockefeller, and Mrs. Robert MacNamara, 9/17/1975, NARA ID 35810744.

AP story on Ford White House Bicentennial Bash for the DC Diplomatic Corps. From the records of Sheila R. Weidenfeld, press secretary to First Lady Betty Ford, Ford Library, NARA ID 644392.

RIP Senator John W. Warner

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

“The freedoms and blessings of American citizenship were not attained on the cheap; they were forged by generations who lived up to its responsibilities, which include defending liberty and protecting America’s principles at home and abroad.” - Senator John W. Warner

BABE RUTH WITH PRESIDENT BUSH (41)! Surprising but true! Future President and Yale baseball team...

Tue, 25 May 2021 14:44:37 -0400

BABE RUTH WITH PRESIDENT BUSH (41)!
Surprising but true! Future President and Yale baseball team captain George H.W. Bush with Babe Ruth, Yale Field, New Haven, CT, 1948. Shortly before his death from cancer, Ruth donated the original manuscript of his autobiography to Yale. George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. NARA ID 186375.

Occupation? Baseball! Babe Ruth’s WWI Draft Registration, Records of the Selective Service, National Archives at Atlanta. His number was never called in WWI, but Ruth did serve his country years later, enlisting in the 104th Field Artillery Division of the NY Army National Guard before a huge crowd in Times Square.

#OTD 1935, Babe Ruth hit homer #714!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Babe Ruth sliding into 3rd base, undated USIA image, NARA ID 7829382.

Sports celebrities gathered for WWII “Stars for Victory” Bond Drive, 2/13/1944. NARA ID 596343.

More baseball records online:

HAMMERIN’ HANK BREAKS RUTH’S RECORD #OTD 1974
JACKIE ROBINSON BROKE COLOR BARRIER #OTD 1947
Teaching with Documents, Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate
Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate
Prologue Magazine story: Jim Crow, Meet Lieutenant Robinson
Pieces of History blog post: Jackie Robinson’s 100th
Teaching Activities on DocsTeach: Analyzing Jackie Robinson’s White House Letter, Analyzing a Photograph of Jackie Robinson, Analyzing a Letter from Jackie Robinson: “Fair Play and Justice”
Special Topics page: Baseball at the National Archives
eBook: Baseball: The National Pastime in the National Archives
Online Exhibit: Letter from Jackie Robinson to IKE about the Little Rock 9

Brooklyn Bridge, 5/24/1883, Library of Congress, NARA ID 169144223.Brooklyn Bridge Brand Cement...

Mon, 24 May 2021 15:51:32 -0400

Brooklyn Bridge, 5/24/1883, Library of Congress, NARA ID 169144223.

Brooklyn Bridge Brand Cement label, “over 100,000 bbls of our cement used on the New York and Brooklyn Bridge” 1/25/1901, NARA ID 45484804.

Brooklyn Bridge, 3/7/1949, NARA ID 169144674.

Brooklyn Bridge Opened #OTD 1883

Learn about the WOMAN who saved the bridge!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

When the Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24, 1883, its towers were the tallest structures in the country and it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. This unparalleled engineering feat – considered 8th Wonder of the World – spanned 1,595 feet, connecting NYC and Brooklyn for the first time. Designed and partly built by John Roebling and his son Washington, the remarkable design used Roebling’s patented system of steel wire cable construction. See the patent here!

L: East River Bridge Plan of one Tower, John A. Roebling, 1867.
R: Patent #4710 - Anchoring Suspension-Chains for Bridges - John Roebling, NARA ID 7560374, 1846.

DID YOU KNOW… Another Roebling saved the bridge - EMILY!

“The name of Emily Warren Roebling will…be inseparably associated with all that is admirable in human nature and all that is wonderful in the constructive world of art. [The bridge is] an everlasting monument to the self-sacrificing devotion of a woman and of her capacity for that higher education from which she has been too long disbarred.” - Abram Hewitt

Both father and son suffered severe injuries during the bridge construction. After John Roebling died of tetanus (result of an on-site injury), his son Washington became chief engineer, supervising construction of the foundation and spending long hours in the pneumatic caissons at the bottom of the river. After one very long shift, he was brought to the surface unconscious and never fully recovered. He didn’t return to the site but continued to direct the work from his nearby home by using a telescope!

With her husband confined to bed, Emily Roebling became the de-facto project manager - and more. The Rensselaer website notes that she went beyond simple management: “She carried out all written communication and face-to-face interviews with contractors with a thorough grasp of the engineering.” While both Roeblings were present for the opening of the bridge in 1883, it was Emily who rode with President Chester Arthur across the great bridge.

NYC Mayor Bill Deblasio has announced plans to name a civic square beneath the Brooklyn Bridge “Emily Roebling Plaza.”

During WWI, Military Police guard Brooklyn Bridge with machine gun, 1917. NARA ID 45500536.

U.S. battleship approaches Brooklyn Navy Yard after passing under the Brooklyn Bridge, 3/28/1919. NARA ID 86697815.

More online:

Brooklyn Bridge Park plaza named for span’s pathbreaking engineer, New York Post, 121/9/2020.
Facial Hair Friday: The Brooklyn Bridge - Read Hilary Parkinson’s Pieces of History post.
Washington Roebling’s Civil War Military Service Record.
New York Times’ “Overlooked” obituary for Emily Roebling.

“Mars may attempt communication by radio waves with this planet…” 1924 Telegram...

Wed, 19 May 2021 12:54:49 -0400

“Mars may attempt communication by radio waves with this planet…” 1924 Telegram from Navy Secretary to Naval Stations re: Mars. NARA ID 596070.

Who’s Out There? NASA film, 1975. NARA ID 649442.

MARS: “RED ROVER, RED ROVER, SEND CHINA RIGHT OVER” ?

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

This week, China landed its first rover on Mars — the biggest test yet of its space exploration capabilities. To mark this milestone, we dug into our online catalog to find these MARS-related records. ENJOY!

ORSON WELLES talks ETs in NASA’s Who’s Out There?

Is anyone out there? Orson Welles asks and answers this question in NASA’s 1975 film and concludes YES, “there may be other intelligent civilizations capable of communicating with us.”

Narrator: From the monstrous Mars life of his famous broadcast, Orson Welles will be taking us through science fiction to science fact, to the new view of extraterrestrial life now emerging from probes to the planets, interstellar discoveries, and findings about the nature of life itself. A real picture as astonishing in its way as the science fiction of 1938.

An impact on ourselves of contact with another intelligent civilization – how it might come about and what the effects might be – is now being discussed by serious thinkers the world over.

Orson Welles: The difference between the spacecrafts of NASA and the lurid flying saucery of that old radio War of the Worlds is the difference between science and science fiction and, yes, between war and peace. It’s our own world which has turned out to be the interplanetary visitor; we’re the ones who are moving out there, not with death rays but with cameras, not to conquer but simply to learn. We are in fact behaving ourselves far better out there than we ever have back here at home on our own planet.

All we know about Mars, circa 1970 - 1979

The next step will be to orbit Mars. This unmanned flight is scheduled for March in 1971. Then we’ll colonize it with machines. Our Mayflowers and our Pilgrim fathers on Mars will be Viking, Orbiters and Landers. From NASA’s Planet Mars (1979). NARA ID 649457.

One of the most important and dramatic investigations to be conducted during the next 10 years is the search for life beyond Earth. If extraterrestrial life does exist in the solar system, it is most likely on Mars. For that reason, Mars remains the prime target of the planetary exploration program. Exploration of the Planets, 1971. NARA ID 649404.

State of the Art NASA film Seeds of Discovery (1970), NARA ID 649645.

And what about Mars? Well this is the planet where we hope to find life, or which will help us… understand the life process. The next step will be to orbit Mars. This unmanned flight is scheduled for March in 1971. Then we’ll colonize it with machines. Our Mayflowers and our Pilgrim fathers on Mars will be Viking, Orbiters and Landers.
– Seeds of Discovery (1970), NARA ID 649645.

As for images of Mars - we’ve come a long, long way. In fact, early pictures of Mars look a lot like images from EPA’s DOCUMERICA Project that showed unchecked land development and the decaying natural environment.

L: Staten Island Landfill, EPA records, NARA ID 549795.
R: Planet Mars Landscape, NASA records, NARA ID 17450923.

Many more of our films on YouTube!

Original caption: “arriving in Australia, the first Negro nurses to reach these shores try...

Thu, 13 May 2021 13:55:59 -0400

Original caption: “arriving in Australia, the first Negro nurses to reach these shores try bicycle riding near their quarters in Camp Columbia, Wacol, Brisbane.” 268th Station 2nd Lts: L-R: Beulah Baldwin, Alberta Smith, and Joan Hamilton. 11/29/1943. NARA ID 178140880.

“First Negro WAVES to enter the Hospital Corps School at Nat'l Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD.” L-R Ruth C. Isaacs, Katherine Horton and Inez Patterson. 3/2/1945. NARA ID 520634.

BLACK (military) NURSES ROCK!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

For (the day after) National Nurses Week, we highlight Black nurses who served with courage and distinction in World War II.
“In the European Theater… are the first units of Negro nurses and WACS to go overseas… They are described by their Commanding Officer as being the equals of any nurses in the area…”
—Truman Gibson, Jr, chief adviser on racial affairs to Secretary of War Henry Stimson

Statement by Truman Gibson, Jr., Special Aide on Negro Affairs to Secretary of War Stimson, 4/9/1945. NARA ID 40019813 (full doc below). Gibson was the 1st Black American awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit, for advocating for black soldiers during WWII.

Capt. Della H. Raney, Army Nurse Corps, head of nursing at hospital at Camp Beale, CA, “has the distinction of being the first Negro nurse to report to duty in the present war…” NARA ID 535942.

“American Negro nurses, commissioned second lieutenants in the U.S. Army Nurses Corps, limber up their muscles in an early-morning workout during an advanced training course at a camp in Australia. The nurses will be assigned to Allied hospitals in the southwest Pacific theater.” 2/1944. NARA ID 535782.

Commissioning ceremony: Phyllis Dailey, 2nd from right, became the 1st Black nurse in the Navy Nursing Corps 3/8/1945. NAID 520618.

See also:

Pictorial History of Black Women in the US Navy during World War II and Beyond, by Dr. Tina Ligon, Rediscovering Black History.

The Closed Door of Justice: African American Nurses and the Fight for Naval Service, by Alicia Henneberry, The Text Message.

Charles Lindbergh Jr., New York Daily News, 5/12/1932.By Miriam Kleiman, Public AffairsOn March 1,...

Wed, 12 May 2021 15:27:40 -0400

Charles Lindbergh Jr., New York Daily News, 5/12/1932.

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

On March 1, 1932, 20 month-old Charles, Jr. was taken from his crib. For 10 long weeks, the nation hoped and prayed for the baby’s safe return.

LINDBERGH BABY FOUND DEAD #OTD 1932

Called the “crime of the century,” the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. shocked and horrified the country and the world, as “Lucky Lindy” became the face of tragedy.

The National Archives holds tens of thousands of related records, including nearly 30,000 pages from the FBI investigation of the kidnapping, in addition to records of the subsequent arrest, trial, and execution of Bruno Hauptmann. The files include letters, memoranda, telegrams, and press clippings dating from the 1930s to 1982!

DON’T RELEASE AL CAPONE FROM JAIL TO AID SEARCH!

Petition from Citizens of Mitchell, SD, urging President Hoover not to release Al Capone, despite his stated willingness – given his gangster connections – to help with the search. Department of Justice Criminal Division, 4/26/1932. NARA ID 595053.

Congressman appeals “on bended knee” for baby’s safe return:

Congressman Charles A. Karch (D-IL), from the Congressional Record, 3/9/1932, NARA ID 34382871.

Related interesting fact! Scenes from HBO’s Lindbergh-based Plot Against America were filmed outside the National Archives, as were scenes from (unrelated) Wonder Woman 1984!

See also:

“Lessons of the Lindbergh Case,” Radio Address by Attorney General Homer Cummings, 9/22/1934.
Charles Lindbergh’s Official Military Personnel File, NARA ID 57294439

“Ground Instruction Flying Cadet” report card for Charles Lindbergh, 3/15/1924. NARA ID 57294439.

From records of President Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council, Clinton Library, NARA ID...

Tue, 11 May 2021 14:29:20 -0400

From records of President Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council, Clinton Library, NARA ID 158700600.

ATTN: #QUEEN’S GAMBIT FANS

#OTD 1997: Deep Blue Beats Kasparov!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

#OTD in chess history, 1997, Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov resigns after 19 moves against IBM’s Deep Blue computer in the 6th and final game of their match.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, we have lots of chess-related records. Here are some faves!

Civil War Chess!

Matthew Brady picture of Col. James P. McMahon and group at headquarters of 164th N.Y. Inf., NARA ID 524678.

World War I POW Chess!

Chess game at US War Prison Barracks, Fort Douglas, UT, 1917/1918, NARA ID 31479013.

WWII Chess!

Russian flyers and an American play chess at Officer’s Club, ATC’s Alaskan base in Nome. USAF records, NARA ID 204948204.

Nazis stashed chess painting in Merker’s Mine!

To protect the nation’s art treasures, Nazi Reichminister for Education decided to stash them in mines for safekeeping, starting with 45 cases of art in March 1945. An estimated 25% of German artworks were stored in the Merkers salt mine. Learn more in archivist Greg Bradsher’s Prologue story: Nazi Gold: The Merkers Mine Treasure.

The Chess Players, 1508 painting by Dutch painter Lucas van Leyden, stashed at Merkers mine.

Monuments Men-related record from the Wiebaden Central Collecting Point, 1945-1946, shows that the Chess Players was recovered from Merkers mine. NARA ID 74180556.

Camp David Chess!

Menachem Begin and Zbigniew Brzezinski play chess at Camp David during negotiations for the Camp David Accords, 9/12/1978, Carter Library, NARA ID 181238.

1970s Chess!

EPA’s DOCUMERICA Project documented chess players in downtown Cincinnati, OH, 6/1973.

Anyone recognize the set’s theme? Looks Disney-ish. NARA ID 553290.

NARA ID 553197.

CHESS IN GAS MASKS?

Airmen in chemical-biological warfare gear play chess during Exercise TEAM SPIRIT ‘85, Osan Air Base in Korea, 3/1/1985. DoD records, NARA ID 6415510.

Alan Shepard was vaccinated! From his official 751-page Military file. NARA ID 74880569.CU Lcdr Alan...

Wed, 05 May 2021 17:44:58 -0400

Alan Shepard was vaccinated!

From his official 751-page Military file. NARA ID 74880569.

CU Lcdr Alan Shepard, USN, seated in gondola during centrifuge run. Project Mercury film, NARA ID 83039.

Alan Shepard prepares for test simulation flight. NASA records, NARA ID 17409758.

JFK, Jackie, LBJ and others watch Shephard’s lift-off . Kennedy Library. NARA ID 6816401.

#OTD 1960, astronaut Alan Shepard became the 1st American in space.

He launched aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule. His suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere, marking a huge triumph for NASA.

Shepard was preceded in space by Ham-the-chimpanzee, who had 430 mile ride in a Mercury capsule launched by a Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral Jan. 31, 1961.

Ham grabs an apple - his first food following this historic flight. NASA records, NARA ID 7038095.

Learn more!

Space Exploration - NASA Records at the National Archives

Help us transcribe SPACE records!

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance with a stormtrooper and R2D2, 12/18/2015. Obama...

Tue, 04 May 2021 22:45:32 -0400

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance with a stormtrooper and R2D2, 12/18/2015. Obama Library, NARA ID 179022710.

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU!

For Star Wars Day, we share all the related records we could find!

National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. PSA, 5/23/1979, NARA ID 74265.

Strange but true - President Nixon with Carrie Fisher! He hasn’t a clue that she’s a rebel fighter from a galaxy far, far away. (2/25/1973. Nixon Library, NARA ID 66394344)

Harrison Ford inspects the cockpit of a F-18 Hornet while filming Random Hearts, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD, 9/25/1998, NARA ID 6609901.

Harrison Ford seems somewhat disinterested at the launch of the Tiger Conservation Initiative. 6/9/2008, NARA ID 7924357.

President George W. Bush presents the Nat'l. Medal of Technology to George Lucas and Chrissie England, 2/13/2006. Bush Library, NARA ID 172544094.

Campus Scene during Shootings at Kent State University, Records of U.S. Attorneys, National Archives...

Tue, 04 May 2021 14:27:38 -0400

Campus Scene during Shootings at Kent State University, Records of U.S. Attorneys, National Archives at Chicago, NARA ID 2723186.

Map of Site of Shootings at Kent State University, President Nixon’s Commission on Campus Unrest. 6/13/-12/1970, NARA ID 596837.

KENT STATE SHOOTING #OTD 1970

In the midst of Vietnam War, President Nixon televised his decision to initiate the Cambodian campaign. This apparent expansion of the war detonated an explosion of antiwar activity that escalated to a national crisis when 4 students were shot at a protest at Kent State University in Ohio.

Affidavit of student shot, Donald S. Mackenzie, NARA ID 596838.

Telegram from Doris and Arthur Krause to President Ford re: the Pardon of Former President Nixon, Ford Library, NARA ID 16637619.

Did you know…?

- While Nixon spoke of initiating the Cambodian campaign, he had been secretly bombing Cambodia since mid-March 1969—an escalation of a covert bombing campaign started by President Johnson in 1965.

- Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on unarmed students. There were over 1,300 armed troops, armored personnel carriers, mortar launchers, and helicopters.

- 67 shots were fired in 13 seconds, killing 4 students and wounding 9—one paralyzed for life (Dean Kahler).

- Two of the students murdered weren’t protesters; they were walking to class, and one of those was ROTC and planned to enter the military.

- Following this shooting, an estimated 4 million striking students shut down 800 campuses nationwide.

- According to a Gallup Poll, 58 % of Americans blamed the students for the violence at Kent State.

- Dean Kahler, who was shot and paralyzed during the attack, came out of an induced coma to read a letter that began: “Dear communist hippie radical, I hope by the time you read this, you are dead.”

- President Nixon responded to the shootings stating: “When dissent turns to violence, it invites tragedy.”

- President Nixon’s Commission on Campus Unrest concluded: “the indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted and inexcusable.”

- A federal grand jury indicted 8 guardsmen, but found they were not subject to criminal prosecution because they acted in self defense.

See also:

Remembering Vietnam: Online Exhibit
Nixon Library’s Nixon and Kent State - Fifty Years Ago: Tragedy Strikes at Kent State

WWII propaganda poster by William Gropper. NARA ID 7387571.While many WW2 posters tout positive...

Sat, 01 May 2021 00:02:57 -0400

WWII propaganda poster by William Gropper. NARA ID 7387571.

While many WW2 posters tout positive patriotic messages, some tapped fear to rally support for the Allies - graphically using racist and sinister imagery to depict the enemy, including the Axis leaders shown above. Such propaganda was produced by the Office of War Information, created by FDR in 1942 to boost wartime production at home and undermine enemy morale abroad.

Illustrator, muralist, artist, and satirical cartoonist William Gropper first worked for the federal government under the Treasury Relief Art Project, then for the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA). Grateful for the support earlier in his career, Gropper volunteered his services to the Office of War Information and created political propaganda for which he received a “Citation in recognition of fine assistance” from the Treasury Department and personal thanks from FDR for “giving pictorial form to specific war information objectives.”

However, Congressional opposition to many OWI tactics - including such fear-mongering - resulted in increasingly curtailed funds, and OWI was disbanded at the end of the war.

See also:

Records of the Office of War Information (RG 208)
1967 "Finding Aid” to these records (really - 1967!)
Records of the Office of War Information - online
Propaganda, Politics, and the Personification of FDR: The Uncle Sam Poster Controversy, by textual archivist Daniel Dancis, Text Message blog.

WWII Poster, “Silence Means Security,” NARA ID 513744.WW2 Poster, NARA ID...

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 21:25:48 -0400

WWII Poster, “Silence Means Security,” NARA ID 513744.

WW2 Poster, NARA ID 513725.

Celebrate Nat'l Poetry Month - with GOV’T Poems???
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Should feds use poetry to communicate with the public?
On this last evening of National Poetry Month, we share records to help answer that question.

Flight safety through poetry!

WWII poster, NARA ID 515051.

WWII Poster NARA ID 515662.

WWII poster: “Any Scrap, Neighbor?” NARA ID 533984.

WWII poster, NARA ID 514103.

Ode to a Bridge: “Bless this bridge, O gracious Lord”

Memphis & Arkansas Bridge inscription with poem by Walter Chandler. 8/1951. NARA IDs 169143595 and 169143549.

See also: Poets for Every Age: American Poets and Writers, Pieces of History.

LOOK FAMILIAR? American Red Cross Certificate of Immunity for typhoid, 3/6/1920, NARA ID...

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 17:37:43 -0400

LOOK FAMILIAR? American Red Cross Certificate of Immunity for typhoid, 3/6/1920, NARA ID 6706185.

WORLD IMMUNIZATION WEEK- related records!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs, who received her 2nd Moderna dose last Thursday.

Scary baby on WWII poster, Office of War Information, NARA ID 44266404.

President Ford gets the Swine Flu vaccine, Ford Library, NARA ID 7064718.

Vaccinations at Manzanar Japanese Internment Camp, Manzanar, CA, 4//2/1942. NARA ID 536850.

WWII poster, Office of War Information, NARA ID 44266586.

WWI Women’s Motor Corps vaccinations, Feb. 1918, NARA ID 45496234.

WWI vaccinations at USNT, Seattle, WA, NARA ID 45496256.

WWII poster, Office of War Information, NARA ID 44266588.

“Vaccinating foundling children against smallpox,” WWI, Vilna, Lithuania, 1917-1918. NARA ID 17391006.

Does it upset the child? NO! “Children go home and play immediately afterwards.” WWII poster, Office of War Information, NARA ID 44267187.

Astronaut Michael Collins, 5/27/1976, NASA records, NARA ID 17447979.RIP Michael Collins“I really...

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 14:44:09 -0400

Astronaut Michael Collins, 5/27/1976, NASA records, NARA ID 17447979.

RIP Michael Collins

“I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let’s say 100,000 miles, their outlook would be fundamentally changed. The all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced. The tiny globe would continue to turn, serenely ignoring its subdivisions, presenting a unified facade that would cry out for unified understanding, for homogeneous treatment. The earth must become as it appears: blue and white, not capitalist or communist; blue and white, not rich or poor; blue and white, not envious or envied.”
― Michael Collins (10/31/1930 – 4/28/2021)

Star Chart from Apollo 11, NASA records, NARA ID 4958425.

President Nixon greets Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, 7/24/1969.

President Reagan with Apollo 11 Astronauts, Reagan Library, NARA ID 75853521.

President George W. Bush with Apollo 11 Astronauts L-R Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin, 7/21/2004, 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission NARA ID 75597807.

Space Exploration - NASA Records at the National Archives

U.S. National Archives

A beautician styles a customer’s hair at the Truman Plaza beauty parlor, 2/12/1990. NARA ID...

SHOTS AT THE SHOP!

Caption: “arriving in Australia, the first Negro nurses to reach these shores try bicycle riding...

Friday - #ArchivesOnWheels #ArchivesHashtagParty!

We’re rolling into June with #ArchivesOnWheels this Friday, June 4 on Twitter and Instagram!

“Red Record of Lynching Map,” 1889-1921. (NARA ID 149268727).“— were dead. Figures are...

#OTD in 1921: The Tulsa Massacre

Image of a Holocaust refugee, records of the International Refugee Organization, National...

#OTD 1939 - The St Louis is turned away in Cuba

“The Voyage of the Damned”

An Orphan of the Holocaust: His Journey to America

“Unidentified butterfly or moth caterpillar in the Virgin Islands,” U.S. Fish and...

WE REMEMBER ERIC CARLE

In memory of children’s book author Eric Carle, who died Sunday at age 91, we share an eclectic mix of caterpillar-related records from our holdings, including quotes from Founding Fathers Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin!

Founding Fathers on very hungry caterpillars

John Adams on very hungry caterpillars:

Thomas Jefferson on very hungry caterpillars:

Ben Franklin on very hungry caterpillars:

Books, Boots & Bridles: The Packhorse LibrariansIf you liked Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of...

Books, Boots & Bridles: The Packhorse LibrariansIf you liked Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of Stars, you’ll LOVE this program TODAY at 2pm (ET)!

Watch on Facebook or YouTube!

Senator John Warner and Elizabeth Taylor greet Queen Elizabeth and President Ford at the White House...

RIP Senator John W. Warner

BABE RUTH WITH PRESIDENT BUSH (41)! Surprising but true! Future President and Yale baseball team...

#OTD 1935, Babe Ruth hit homer #714!

Brooklyn Bridge, 5/24/1883, Library of Congress, NARA ID 169144223.Brooklyn Bridge Brand Cement...

Brooklyn Bridge Opened #OTD 1883

Learn about the WOMAN who saved the bridge!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

“Mars may attempt communication by radio waves with this planet…” 1924 Telegram...

MARS: “RED ROVER, RED ROVER, SEND CHINA RIGHT OVER” ?

This week, China landed its first rover on Mars — the biggest test yet of its space exploration capabilities. To mark this milestone, we dug into our online catalog to find these MARS-related records. ENJOY!ORSON WELLES talks ETs in NASA’s Who’s Out There?

All we know about Mars, circa 1970 - 1979

Original caption: “arriving in Australia, the first Negro nurses to reach these shores try...

BLACK (military) NURSES ROCK!

Charles Lindbergh Jr., New York Daily News, 5/12/1932.By Miriam Kleiman, Public AffairsOn March 1,...

LINDBERGH BABY FOUND DEAD #OTD 1932

From records of President Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council, Clinton Library, NARA ID...

ATTN: #QUEEN’S GAMBIT FANS

#OTD 1997: Deep Blue Beats Kasparov!

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Civil War Chess!

World War I POW Chess!

WWII Chess!

Nazis stashed chess painting in Merker’s Mine!

Camp David Chess!

1970s Chess!

CHESS IN GAS MASKS?

Alan Shepard was vaccinated! From his official 751-page Military file. NARA ID 74880569.CU Lcdr Alan...

Alan Shepard was vaccinated!

#OTD 1960, astronaut Alan Shepard became the 1st American in space.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance with a stormtrooper and R2D2, 12/18/2015. Obama...

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU!

Campus Scene during Shootings at Kent State University, Records of U.S. Attorneys, National Archives...

KENT STATE SHOOTING #OTD 1970

WWII propaganda poster by William Gropper. NARA ID 7387571.While many WW2 posters tout positive...

WWII Poster, “Silence Means Security,” NARA ID 513744.WW2 Poster, NARA ID...

LOOK FAMILIAR? American Red Cross Certificate of Immunity for typhoid, 3/6/1920, NARA ID...

Astronaut Michael Collins, 5/27/1976, NASA records, NARA ID 17447979.RIP Michael Collins“I really...

RIP Michael Collins

Books, Boots & Bridles: The Packhorse Librarians
If you liked Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of Stars, you’ll LOVE this program TODAY at 2pm (ET)!

This week, China landed its first rover on Mars — the biggest test yet of its space exploration capabilities. To mark this milestone, we dug into our online catalog to find these MARS-related records. ENJOY!

ORSON WELLES talks ETs in NASA’s Who’s Out There?